Dead Space: Playing the Game
by EcoSeeker247
Summary: What happens when Isaac somehow gets his hands on the first Dead Space? Out of curiosity, he decides to play it, and soon, the others are joining in on the fun of seeing their game counterparts come to life. Rated T for mild suggestive humor & language.
1. Chapter One: Opening Cutscene

Okay! Here's a new idea that I've come up with! I've seen this done for other games, but not _Dead Space _(at least, not to my knowledge), so I thought I'd give it a shot. I don't write a lot of humor stories, so let me know what you honestly think of this idea (praise or constructive criticism is welcome)! I've written two other humor stories, but not for a long period of time. This first chapter will just be the opening cutscene and the next chapter should actually get into the gameplay! With that, enjoy! :)

**NOTE: **This is not meant to offend anybody, nor is it poking fun at the tragic elements of the game.

**DISCLAIMER: **Everyone belongs to Visceral Games and EA.

**WARNING: **There will be _Dead Space _spoilers throughout this story. (I will only write this once, as it applies to the rest of the story.)

_Italics- _game dialogue (and I've also written "game" in front of everyone's name to distinguish between the game and real life)

* * *

Isaac Clarke was never into videogames that much, but that sentiment would change during one of his breaks from the CEC office.

After escaping the monotonous tasks of repair work, the systems engineer entered a store he never thought he would set foot in: a videogame store. _Let's see what's here today, _he thought as he browsed the shelves…and came across something strange. At first, he thought it was a joke, but as soon as he picked up the jewel case and studied both the front and back covers, he knew he had to call someone about it.

"Nicole!" he cried as he sent a video log to her, "You won't believe what I just found!"

"_What?_" Isaac's girlfriend, Nicole, asked as she tilted her head to the side and widened her eyes in curiosity.

"I just found a videogame based on my life!" Isaac reported, "It's called _Dead Space._ Here, look." He held it up for her to see.

At first, Nicole couldn't believe her eyes. "_This is a joke, isn't it?_" she asked.

"Not at all," Isaac said, "Apparently, I'm fighting for my life on some creepy ship." He flipped the game around so that his girlfriend could see the back cover.

"_Oh my God,_" she petitioned, "_You weren't kidding. Can I come over later? I'd like to see this game based on your life._"

"Sure," Isaac agreed, "I could use the company anyway." He smiled and watched as Nicole smiled back at him.

"_I've got a few more shifts at the hospital,_" she explained, "_But I'll come over as soon as I get out. Okay?_"

"Sounds good. I'll see you then. I love you." And with that, Isaac hung up.

_I'll buy this game, then, and see what it's all about,_ Isaac thought as he approached the cash register. "May I see your ID, please?" the cashier asked politely, "This is an M-rated game, after all."

Sighing, Isaac reached for his CEC identification and flashed it in front of him, and after that, the cashier gasped. "You're _the _Isaac Clarke from the _Dead Space _games!" he exclaimed, widening his eyes in surprise.

Isaac had to laugh. "My reputation precedes me," he commented, "I didn't even know I was _from _a game." The teenager didn't say anything, but he instead rang the game up and then handed it to Isaac.

"Happy gaming," he said as the engineer walked out the door. As soon as he stepped foot outside, however, he caught sight of two familiar people.

"Isaac, where have you been?" Zach Hammond demanded as he and his coworker, Kendra Daniels, marched up to Isaac, "The elevator is broken again!"

Isaac wordlessly held up _Dead Space, _and the others gasped. "Isaac?" Kendra asked, "Why is your name on the back cover of this game?"

"No idea," Isaac mumbled, "But I'm going to find out what this is all about after work."

"Can we come, too?" Hammond asked, "We could make it a CEC employee gathering." He then brightened up.

"I know!" he cried, "I'll invite all our colleagues!"

At this, Isaac paled. "_All _of them?" he echoed. He didn't have the heart to tell them that he had intended on only spending the afternoon with Nicole, but just as he was about to explain that to them, Hammond replied again.

"All of them," he repeated.

"Oh, that's not necessary," Isaac began, but Kendra ran right over him.

"We'll all meet at your house after work!" she decided, and before Isaac could protest, she and Hammond were gone.

"Nicole?" Isaac began as he contacted his girlfriend again, "Change of plans. Half the CEC has just been invited to our gaming night."

"_Figures,_" Nicole replied, rolling her eyes, "_Kendra and Hammond, right?_"

"I tried to stop them," Isaac insisted.

"_I know you did,_" Nicole said, "_But we'll still have fun once they leave. Once we figure out what this game is. See you then!_"

* * *

And later on that day, Isaac and Nicole hovered by Isaac's Xbox 360 while some of the other CEC employees made snacks and poured drinks for each other. As of now, Kendra and Hammond were sitting cross-legged on the floor while the others that they had invited were getting situated, the others being Terrence Kyne and Challus Mercer, two scientists who also happened to be Unitologists.

"All right, I think it's ready!" Isaac announced as he finished hooking up the controller and watched as the main menu for _Dead Space _appeared. Everyone around him cheered.

"This game is very intriguing, I must say," Kyne piped up from the back, "A game about our very own Mr. Clarke."

"Shh!" Kendra hissed, "It's starting!" Kyne immediately shut up once Isaac was finished picking the Medium Difficulty. Following that, the group watched as the opening cutscene began, with words flashing very fast across the screen. In the corner, Nicole shut the lights off just as Isaac gasped.

"Nicole!" he cried, "Get over here and look at this!"

"What?" Nicole asked as she hurriedly sat down next to Isaac. As soon as she saw what he was talking about, she gasped as well.

"_Isaac, it's me,_" a familiar voice began, "_I wish I could talk to you. I'm sorry. I'm sorry about everything. I wish I could just…talk to someone. It's all falling apart here, I can't believe what's happening! It's strange…such a little thing…_"

"Oh, my God!" Nicole quipped, "That's me!"

"You're in the game, too?" Kyne cried from the back.

"Apparently," Nicole answered, "This is getting weird now."

"Well, there I am," Isaac commented once game-Nicole's transmission finished, "The back of my head at least."

"You have a cute head," Nicole joked, kissing him on the cheek.

"_Kendra?_" Hammond shouted, and everyone looked up as game-Kendra swaggered onto the screen.

"_How many times have you watched that thing_?" she asked game-Isaac, "_Guess you really miss her. Don't worry, we're almost there. You'll be able to look her up once we're on board. Looks like you two have a lot of catching up to do._"

"What the hell am I doing there?" Kendra demanded as she shoved some popcorn into her mouth.

"Better yet, why am I apparently missing?" Nicole piped up.

"There's Hammond!" Mercer finally spoke up, pointing to the next shot, "Why are all of you in this game?"

"_All right, everyone, we're here,_" game-Hammond announced, "_Synching our orbit now._"

"I'm not even going to ask," Hammond decided, "I'm expecting Dr. Kyne and Dr. Mercer to pop up next."

Everyone laughed.

"_All this trouble over that chunk of rock,_" game-Kendra commented.

"_Deep space mining is a lucrative business, Miss Daniels,_" game-Hammond explained to her, "_Aegis 7 is a gold mine according to prospector's reports. Cobalt, silicon, osmium…Now, where is she? There she is. We have visual contact." _

_ "So that's the Ishimura. Impressive." _

_ "The USG Ishimura. Biggest planet cracker in her class. And it looks like they already popped the cork._"

"I'm not _that _clueless about these things," Kendra pointed out.

"And I'm not that pushy," Hammond agreed.

"Why do I have nothing to say about all this?" Isaac wondered out loud from next to Nicole.

"_Why is it all dark?_" game-Kendra asked, "_I don't see any running lights._"

"_Corporal, take us in closer and hail them," _game-Hammond ordered, "_And stay clear of that debris field. We're here to fix their ship, not the other way around." _One of the men sitting in the front began transmitting a message to the _Ishimura._

"How come we didn't invite them?" Kyne inquired.

"Do they even have names?" Nicole added.

"_USG Ishimura, this is the emergency maintenance team of the USG Kellion responding to your distress call. Come in, Ishimura." _

_ "You're going to have to boost the signal if their power is low," _game-Kendra explained.

"_Yes, we know," _game-Hammond replied in a slightly irritated voice, "_Boost the signal. More._"

"_Never heard of a total communication blackout on one of these things. You'd think with a thousand people on board, someone would pick up the phone."_ At that, everyone in the room quieted down as a foreign transmission reached his or her ears.

"What is that?" Hammond asked, and everyone began laughing as one of the characters in the game asked the same question.

"I think the game read your mind," Kendra teased, playfully punching Hammond on the shoulder.

"_What is that?_"

"_It's a busted array like we thought,_" game-Kendra explained while the real Kendra beamed over the fact that her counterpart sounded more like her real-life self, "_Sounds like they're having problems with their encoder. You get us down there and Isaac and I can fix it. Forty-eight hours max." _

"I love how I'm not commenting on any of this right now," Isaac piped up, "I usually show _some _emotion." Nicole leaned her head on the engineer's shoulder as he said this.

"_All right, you heard the lady," _game-Hammond said, "_Take us in. Let's see what needs fixing._"

"_Gravity tethers engaged. Automatic docking procedure is go." _

Suddenly, something exploded in the game, causing the _Kellion _to rock back and forth. Everyone lost his or her footing, and even game-Isaac lurched forward in his seat. "That doesn't look good," Nicole whispered.

"_What the hell…?" _game Hammond demanded.

_ "Sir, the autodock-" _

_ "What is it?" _

_ "We're off track! We're going to hit the hull!" _

"You mean we're going to die before the game even starts?" Isaac asked.

"I hope not," Kendra responded, "I want to see how much more information I can pass on to everyone."

"_Hit the blast shields!_" game-Hammond ordered, "_Their guidance tether is damaged! Switch to manual! Now!" _

_ "Inside the magnetic field?" _game-Kendra shrieked, "_Are you insane? Abort!" _

"_NO!" _game-Hammond snapped, "_We can make it inside! Corporal, I gave you an order!" _

_ "Ahh! The field's too strong!_"

"I'm seriously beginning to worry for your lives now," Kyne mused worriedly as he sipped more of his bottled beer.

"Me too," Nicole agreed, "When will I show up?"

All the CEC employees watched in silence as the _Kellion _crashed into the _Ishimura _in a flash of white light. "I…have nothing to say right now," Mercer said.

"I do," Isaac retorted, "This is going to be one interesting game."


	2. Chapter One: Flight Deck Trouble

Wow, thanks for the reviews, favorites, and alerts, guys! I really appreciate them and I'm glad you enjoyed the first chapter! Because of that, I've got the next chapter as well! I also thought I'd mention that while there will be humor a lot of the time, other times, there won't be. With that in mind, enjoy this next chapter!

**DISCLAIMER: **Everyone belongs to Visceral Games and EA.

* * *

Once the white light cleared away, the inside of the _Kellion _came back into view, and Isaac picked up the controller. "Wow, I can rotate the camera now," he announced to the others.

"Aww, look at you!" Nicole cooed, "Just looking around silently." She smiled widely.

"They make me look so innocent," Isaac replied, grinning wolfishly.

Kendra snorted into her hand. "We all know you're not that innocent, Isaac Clarke," she teased, "I saw you and Nicole at the bar a few nights ago."

"Hey, that was only one drink I had," Isaac responded, pointing at the computer specialist. Kendra winked and quieted down just as game-Kendra and game-Hammond began to argue.

"_Is everyone okay?_" game-Hammond asked worriedly.

"_What?_" game-Kendra stammered, "_What the hell were you thinking? Were you trying to get us killed?_"

"_I just saved our asses, Miss Daniels. If we had aborted at that speed and distance, we would have smashed right into the side of the Ishimura! Now, let's settle down and get to work. Corporal, report!" _

"I see the game got your personalities right," Mercer mused, nodding at Kendra and Hammond.

"Oh, come on!" Hammond replied, "We don't fight _that _much. Do we?"

Kyne, Mercer, Nicole, and Isaac all glanced at each other and smirked. "Okay, so maybe we have…minor _discussions _sometimes," Kendra admitted, "But we get along for the most part. Right, Hammond?"

"Of course, Miss Daniels," Hammond replied, winking at her. They then turned their attention back to the screen as the camera rotated to a fixed position. At the moment, game-Isaac was slipping a helmet on over his head.

"Damn," Isaac cursed under his breath, "I guess we weren't supposed to see my face."

"Was that a spoiler?" Kyne asked, shrugging.

"I guess for the game," Hammond answered, "But we know what he looks like already, so I guess not in real life."

"Was that the game's attempt to make me this mysterious character?" Isaac asked as they all watched game-Kendra sync their RIGs so that the bars on the back were green.

"Looks like it," Nicole quipped, "But you're already a great guy."

Everyone turned back to the screen as game-Hammond finished talking and all the characters began to exit the _Kellion, _leaving game-Isaac by himself. The camera rotated until Isaac was finally allowed to control himself. "This is so weird," he muttered to himself as an information box appeared in front of him.

"_Use 'Run' to move quickly,_" a clipped, English, female voice explained as Isaac began to test the controls.

"Like we don't all know how to run already," Mercer replied, and everyone laughed.

"Aren't you going to tire yourself out like that, Mr. Clarke?" Kyne asked, "If you force yourself to run the whole time?"

"Game characters never get tired," Nicole retorted, "You know that, Dr. Kyne."

"Besides," Isaac added, "I won't need to run _everywhere_, will I?" They all quieted down as game-Kendra turned to game-Isaac and said something else.

"_You didn't lost power to the port booster,"_ she scolded, "_You lost the port booster! Unbelievable!_"

"Who?" Isaac asked, "Me?"

"I guess so," Kendra quipped, "But why am I scolding you? You didn't do anything." Isaac shrugged and continued to guide himself over to his destination, where everyone else was waiting. In front of his character, "Objective Complete" flashed, and everyone stood outside the locked door up ahead, not doing anything.

"_Guess the power's down everywhere,_" game-Hammond deduced, "_Isaac, get over here and hack the door pad._"

Everyone burst out laughing and glanced at Hammond. "Now _that's _Hammond to a T!" Kendra teased as Hammond rolled his eyes.

"I'm not _that _bossy," he replied, but Isaac glanced over at him with a smirk on his face.

"_Sure _you aren't," he said, "Now, how do I hack this door?"

"_Look for blue holograms to activate_," the same voice from before explained to Isaac.

"So according to this," Isaac began, "I only have to press a button and the door will open? Why can't it be that simple in real life?"

"Hey, that looks like your Xbox," Nicole suddenly spoke up, pointing to the glowing box next to game-Isaac as the door in front of them opened. As Isaac turned himself to the left slightly, he picked up some credits and a small med pack.

"What are those going to do?" Kyne asked.

"I guess we'll find out." Everyone fell silent as the game-Kendra and game-Hammond began to exchange words again.

"_Seems like everyone was trying to pack in a hurry." _

_"There should be a security detail in here." _

_"Yeah, well, there's not. There's nobody here. I can't pick up any broadcasts." _

_"That security console is still live. Isaac, log in and see what you can find. Kendra, get that elevator back online." _

_"Power's dead. I can't!" _

_"Then reroute the damn power! Look, if we all cooperate, we can figure this out a lot sooner. Let's get that computer display up, Isaac." _

"Shit," Kendra cursed, "Are we going to be fighting like this the whole time, Hammond?"

"I hope not," Hammond replied, "They're making me sound like an angry asshole!"

"Don't you have anything to say, Isaac?" Nicole asked, tilting her head to the side.

"Apparently not," Isaac muttered as he figured out how to use the navigator, which he nicknamed "Bread Crumbs". After seeing that Bread Crumbs was pointing him to a door right next to him, he guided his game counterpart into the next area, where he proceeded to log into the computer, just like Hammond had asked.

"_It doesn't look good,_" one of the other guys commented, "_She's taken a lot of damage." _

_"The tram system's offline,_" game-Hammond piped up, "_Getting around is going to be difficult. The air seems to be flowing again. That's a start." _

"Why do I feel like something's going to happen?" Mercer asked, and then everyone gasped and jumped as the lights in the game flickered and shut off. An alarm accompanied the startling sound.

"Scary call, Mercer," Kendra whispered, shuddering.

"_What the hell was that?_"

"_Automatic quarantine must have tripped when the filtration system restarted. Everybody relax," _game-Hammond replied in a calm voice.

Nobody could say anything as game-Kendra continued. "_What was that? Did you hear that?_" she asked as they must have heard a small noise.

"_I'm not sure…" _

Suddenly, something burst through a vent in the room. "What the hell?" Isaac muttered as he gripped the controller in his hands.

"_What the hell?" _

_"I don't know!"_ game-Kendra cried, "_Something's in the room with us!" _

_"_Oh, shit," Hammond hissed under his breath, "I'm getting nervous now. Why'd you turn the lights off, Nicole?" Nicole shrugged as they continued to watch the Necromorph on the screen sneak up on one of the other _Kellion _crewmembers.

"What is that?" Kyne asked.

"_Oh, Jesus!_" game-Hammond yelled, "_Open fire! Open fire! Kendra, power! Kendra!_"

"Oh, crap!" Kendra gasped, "What's going on? I don't know if I'm going to like this game too much! One of those other guys is dead already!" They all listened to the sound of a flat line as she said this.

"And I'm not reacting again," Isaac commented, "You're not the only one that looks like an asshole, Hammond."

"_Come on…come on…got it!" _game-Kendra shouted.

"_Isaac!_" game-Hammond ordered, "_Get the hell out of there!" _

_"The door is unlocked! Run!_" Soon, the Necromorph from the other room made its way into the area where game-Isaac was.

"Isaac! Run!" Nicole shouted, shoving the controller back into her boyfriend's hands, and picking it up again, Isaac began to make himself run through the dark hallways while he heard snarling behind him.

"Shit!" Isaac cursed, "Hammond's right! This is pretty nerve wracking right now!"

"Don't get yourself killed, Mr. Clarke!" Kyne advised the engineer. Everyone watched in silence as Isaac controlled himself. Just as he made it to the elevator in front of him, the Necromorph appeared behind him and slashed at him.

"AHH!" Nicole screamed, clutching Isaac's arm.

"Come on, come on, come on!" Isaac growled, "Open up, you stupid elevator!" As soon as he said that, the door opened, and Isaac forced his counterpart into the lift as he pushed the button to go down. Everything went quiet, and everyone in the room breathed a sigh of relief.

_Boom! _With a burst of fury, the same Necromorph forced its way through the elevator doors, causing everyone, even the guys, to let out a scream of surprise. "What the fuck is that?" Hammond asked as he clutched his chest.

"Whatever it is, it's hell bent on killing me," Isaac retorted just as the doors closed and sliced the monster in half.

"Christ," Kendra gasped, "What game did you buy, Isaac? Are you sure you want to keep playing?"

"I'm not stopping now!" Isaac protested, "I have to see what else is going on here!"

"I'd like to know where I am in this game," Nicole decided firmly.

"And I want to see myself actually speak eventually," Isaac added, "I must be feeling scared right now."

"Isaac Clarke," Kendra teased, "The man of few words."

Isaac narrowed his eyes at her in mock anger. "Hardly."

As the elevator doors in the game opened, Isaac made himself stomp on one of the Xbox-like boxes on the floor, where he found goods inside of it. "So Xboxes give us credits and ammo now?" Hammond asked, "Let's destroy yours, Isaac, so we can see if there's anything inside."

"Careful, Hammond," Isaac warned, "You might get the Red Ring of Death if you do that."

Everyone cracked up in order to lighten up the mood a little bit after their scare from before. Meanwhile, in the game, game-Isaac was reading a message written in blood on the walls.

"Cut off their limbs," Isaac read from where he sat on the floor, "Is that how you're supposed to kill them?"

"Looks like it," Kyne answered, "Hey look, a Plasma Cutter!"

"Where?"

"Right in front of you! Pick it up!"

And with the touch of a button, Isaac equipped his game character with the tool, as well as the extra Plasma Energy in his inventory. He then guided game-Isaac over to the locked door in the distance, where he proceeded to aim the Plasma Cutter and shoot at the fuse.

"A Plasma Cutter as a weapon?" Isaac asked as the door unlocked, "That's pretty badass." He opened the door just in time to see someone getting mauled by a similar monster, and once the kill was done, the beast moved on to game-Isaac.

"Look out!" Hammond cried from next to Kendra, and nobody said anything as Isaac tried to fight off the Necromorph. In a flash, it grabbed him, and the letter "A" appeared over game-Isaac's shoulder.

"Shit!" Isaac cursed, hammering the "A" button on his controller as the Necromorph tried to chew his neck. After a few more seconds, game-Isaac managed to fight the enemy off as Isaac got used to the shooting controls.

"This is awkward," he commented.

"This should be a piece of cake for you!" Kendra admonished, "You know how to use a Plasma Cutter!"

"It's kind of hard to control myself in a game setting," Isaac reasoned as he learned to reload his Plasma Cutter in the game.

"I hope we're okay," Hammond piped up, gesturing to himself and Kendra.

"And not fighting anymore," Kendra added.

"Knowing you two," Nicole piped up, "You probably are."

"Very funny," Kendra said as Isaac continued to move himself through the next few dark hallways. They were quiet, which made everyone worried that something else was going to pop out, but eventually, Isaac made it to the next Save Station.

"_Isaac? Isaac!_" game-Kendra cried, "_God, I can't believe he made it._"

"_Isaac,_" game-Hammond began, "_We ran into more of them on the way here. Are you okay?" _

_"More what? What the hell are those things? Is that the crew?" _

_"Keep your voice down! Whatever they are, they're not friendly, and half the doors on this ship are locked because of the quarantine. Now, we have to get to the Bridge, but first, we've got to repair the tram system." _

"No, shit," Kendra mumbled to herself, and Hammond glared at her for a minute.

"_You're crazy, Hammond!" _game-Kendra accused, "_You're going to get us all killed!_"

"I don't think you're crazy," Kendra commented, "Just thought I'd put that out there. The game is getting my personality wrong."

"_If you listen to me, I will get you out of here alive. Now, what's wrong with the tram?" _

_"The data board is fried, but there should be another one in the Maintenance Bay. There's also a broken tram blocking the tunnel that needs to be repaired. Damn it. Everything's on the other side of the quarantine. We can't reach it from here." _

"I see where this is going now," Isaac commented out loud as everyone instinctively turned to face him, "This is looking more like a normal day at the office."

"_No, we can't. But you can. Isaac, if I can get to the Bridge, I should be able to access the personnel files. You fix the tram, and I'll help you find Nicole." _

"Aww," everyone cooed as he or she turned to face the Senior Medical Officer, who was beginning to blush.

"Don't worry, Nicole," Isaac assured her as he saved the game, "I'll find you in the game. We'll see where you are." It looked like they were going to be in for a bumpy ride.


	3. Chapter One: No Escape in Sight

Thanks again for the reviews and alerts, guys! Another thing: I know Mercer hasn't been saying too much so far, but when I get to Chapter Two and especially Chapter Five, he'll have a lot more to comment on! ;) And for anyone who was wondering if I was going to let Isaac get himself killed in the game, the answer is yes. I'm going to have him die some of the more famous _Dead Space _deaths to see how he would react to them! With that in mind, enjoy this next chapter! :)

**DISCLAIMER: **Everyone belongs to Visceral Games and EA.

* * *

"I guess it's time for me to fix the tram," Isaac announced out loud to the others after he learned how to use the Map. He quickly checked Bread Crumbs to make sure he knew where he was going before he guided himself through the next few hallways.

"That's right!" Kendra chirped cheerfully. Nicole glanced at her, rolled her eyes, and chuckled.

"And what do _you _do all day?" she asked, "Sit in front of a computer?"

"At least I don't have to get up from my seat all day," Kendra replied.

"You should come to the gym with me," Nicole suggested, "It'd be nice to go with someone else once in a while."

"And it'd get your lazy ass out of the office for a while," Hammond added.

Nicole grinned at him. "Right you are, Hammond," she said.

Kendra whirled around and pointed at him. "Hey!" she began, "I do _not _have a lazy ass! It happens to be a nice ass, for your information! Just the other day, one of the engineers made a pass at me in the cafeteria. And before you ask, Nicole, no, it wasn't Isaac." Mercer and Kyne just rolled their eyes in the back.

"Ahh, Miss Daniels," Kyne sighed, "You're very full of yourself."

"Am not," Kendra singsonged.

"Are too. Amelia's very humble about that kind of stuff."

"How is Amelia?" Nicole asked, but before Kyne could reply, Isaac suddenly gasped and swore.

"Ahh, shit!" he cursed, and everyone faced the screen again as a Necromorph that had been playing dead suddenly leaped up from the ground and grabbed game-Isaac.

"Press the damn A button!" Kendra shouted, "Quickly!"

"I'm going as fast as I can!" Isaac replied as his game counterpart managed to fight off the Slasher, "Hell, I thought that thing was _dead_!"

"Rule number one," Kyne began, holding up an index finger wisely, "Always shoot something that appears to be dead."

"Thanks, Doctor Kyne," Isaac thanked him, "I'll keep that in mind." Turning to his left, he continued onward until he found something on the floor.

"An Audio Log," he whispered to himself, "Let's see what this says." After picking it up, everyone listened to the transmission.

"_This is Benson, tram engineering. We think we've figured it out! Smith killed one of them! Listen, forget about shooting them in the body! You've gotta cut off the limbs! Grab a cutter, anything like that! Cut them apart!" _

"Now we know who to go to if this happens," Mercer commented.

Isaac continued to move himself through the dark hallways as a voice began to speak to him.

"_Isaac, be careful,_" game-Hammond warned, "_Shooting them in the body didn't seem to work. Go for the limbs. Dismember them. That should do the trick._"

"_Conserve ammo by dismembering enemy limbs and doing extra damage,_" the tutorial explained a few seconds later.

"Thanks for the advice, Hammond," Isaac said, turning to Hammond, "Even though I've figured it out by now."

Hammond smirked. "That's what I'm here for," he replied.

"He just wants to make sure you don't die before you can do your job," Kendra teased.

"I'm aware," Isaac muttered, and Nicole patted his shoulder affectionately.

They all directed their attention back to the game as they heard an unfamiliar roar. "What was that?" Nicole whispered, clutching her boyfriend's arm and cuddling closer to him.

"I don't even want to know," the engineer answered.

"It sounded big," Kyne also whispered.

As game-Isaac continued onwards, he suddenly found himself standing in front of a door that was opening and shutting rapidly. "Looks like we hit a dead end," Mercer said, "Game over."

"Not necessarily," Isaac replied, "That looks like a Stasis Module on the floor." He moved himself forward to pick it up.

"Good call, Isaac!" Nicole complimented as game-Isaac equipped himself with the Stasis Module.

"_Stasis will slow down fast enemies and objects._"

"We know," Kendra mused as game-Kendra contacted game-Isaac.

"_Looks like that door is malfunctioning, Isaac. Try using that Stasis Module you just picked up."_

"All right, I know!" Isaac snapped, "Sheesh."

"Sorry, Isaac," Kendra apologized, "We can't help it if we have to constantly remind you of things." Isaac just ignored her and he made himself use Stasis on the malfunctioning door up ahead. Once the familiar flash of blue light appeared and the door slowed down, he made his way through there and continued to the next area.

Suddenly, in a flash, the lights flickered and shut off, leaving game-Isaac in the dark. "What the hell?" Isaac muttered to himself.

"Oh, God, why do the lights have to go off now?" Nicole whispered, shaking a little bit.

"Shh," Kendra hissed, "Do you hear that?"

Everyone stopped talking as he or she listened to the faint voices that were whispering scientific words and phrases that made no sense. "That is fucking creepy," Hammond mused.

"All I hear is 'search and rescue'," Kyne added, "Look, the lights are turning back on!" Sure enough, the lights returned, and Isaac proceeded to collect some items before moving on. When he arrived in the next room, he saw an arm mechanism in front of him just as game-Kendra announced that his new Stasis Module would help him.

Isaac proceeded to make himself activate the first arm before running around to the other side, where a few Necromorphs tried to hinder his progress. He swiftly took them out before continuing onward.

"So I guess I'm going to have to use Stasis on this," Isaac decided, activating the other arm and then using Stasis to slow it down while he made himself run back up to the main control panel to activate the whole thing.

"Hooray!" Nicole cheered as Isaac set the controller down for a minute and wiped his forehead.

"That was child's play," he replied, "That's what I do at work every day. And it's always you two who are ordering me around." He pointed at Kendra and Hammond.

"Who, _us_?" Hammond asked innocently, "Never."

"_Isaac, you did it!_" game-Kendra complimented game-Isaac, "_That tram was blocking the whole system. When you get the computer online, you'll be able to call the tram from the control room. The faster the better…I can hear something crawling around out there." _

"This is where we're going to die," Kendra mused, "I can feel it."

"I don't think so," Kyne disagreed as Isaac moved himself back the way he came, saving along the way and passing through the malfunctioning door again.

The group watched as all of a sudden, a few Necromorphs popped out of a vent in the ground, one of them being a Slasher and the other being a new Necromorph that they had never seen before: one that made giant leaps towards game-Isaac. "Shit!" Isaac cursed as the Slasher grabbed him, therefore initiating a quick time event. Once he was finished fighting that one off, he managed to get himself to dismember it before moving on to the Leaper.

"This one's going to be a pain in the ass," Isaac whispered, "I can tell."

"Don't sweat it, Isaac," Hammond replied casually, "You can do it."

"Do any of you want to play for a while?" the engineer offered, "I'm getting a little tired."

"No way," Kendra declined, "It's much more fun watching you play and do all the work."

"Yeah, I bet," Isaac mumbled as he managed to kill the Leaper in front of him.

"I wonder what other tools will appear in the game," Nicole wondered as game-Isaac now made his way to the Maintenance Bay, where the previously locked elevator was now open.

"Only time will tell," Isaac said to her as he made his way down into the Maintenance Bay. For the next couple of minutes, none of them could find anything to comment on as Isaac controlled himself, slaughtering all the Necromorphs in the room and finding various keys in order to obtain the spare Data Board for the computer.

"For all this trouble I'm going through," Isaac said to the others, "I hope this benefits us in the end."

Suddenly, Hammond's mouth dropped open. "No!" he gasped, "It can't be! Is that a Bench in that room up ahead?" He pointed, and soon, everyone was looking to where he was pointing.

"Looks like it," Nicole responded, "I saw you pick up some Power Nodes before, Isaac. I guess you can use them here."

After using the key to get into the room, game-Isaac sprinted over to the Bench, and soon, a screen flashed up in front of him, and Isaac paused for a minute.

"So, what should I upgrade?" he asked the others, and he regretted it a few seconds later.

"Plasma Cutter!" Hammond shouted, raising his hand.

"Your RIG," Nicole piped up in a quieter voice.

"Stasis Module!" Kendra also cried.

"His health is the most important thing right now," Nicole said to the others, "The weapons can wait."

"But he'll need a more powerful Plasma Cutter to kill those monsters," Hammond argued.

"And he'll want a longer time to slow things down," Kendra also said, "I vote for the Stasis Module."

"Miss Daniels, I don't want to fight with you," Hammond began, "But I think you're sorely misguided."

"How would you know? You've never played this game either!"

"And you've never been in any sort of combat before!"

"Stasis Module!"

"Plasma Cutter!"

"_Stasis Module!_"

"_Plasma Cutter!_"

"Done!" Isaac interrupted, making himself step away from the Bench as he picked up the Data Board and collected the other useful items in the room.

"While you all were arguing," Isaac began, "I went with the RIG." He smiled warmly at Nicole.

Upon noticing Kendra and Hammond's disappointed expressions, the engineer added, "Hey, she was the only one not making a fuss about it."

"You should start listening to us more," Hammond suggested, "Like in the game."

"I'd be like a dog if I did that," the engineer retorted, and Kendra pouted as game-Isaac retraced his footsteps yet again.

* * *

_**A little while later…**_

"You've got to be shitting me," Isaac whispered as he finished saving, "I've got to go back to the _Kellion _now? Back the way I came?"

"Sounds like it," Kyne answered, "Do you suppose those monsters are still there?"

"I hope not."

"Don't jinx anything, Kyne," Kendra warned, pointing a finger at him, and the research scientist took another sip of his beer as he shrugged. He and Mercer didn't have much to say at this point, so they instead just watched as Isaac controlled himself and returned to the _Kellion. _

_"Isaac," _game-Hammond announced through the Audio RIG, "_We made it to the Bridge! It's a nightmare up here! No survivors. We're going to try and get to the Command computer. Wish us luck._"

"I should just make myself take the shuttle and leave," Isaac mused.

"_Isaac!_" Kendra gasped, "You wouldn't!"

"I've been doing all the work," Isaac pointed out, "It should be my choice."

"Just get back to the _Kellion _like we told you." Isaac smirked as he directed himself back to the _Kellion_, where he climbed inside and tried to pull up a damage report.

Suddenly, in the corner of the screen, they noticed something crawling just as the engine on the _Kellion _exploded.

"_Hostile life form detected,_" a voice announced, "_Hull damage critical. Evacuate immediately._"

"Oh, hell no!" Isaac said as he tried to guide himself through the flames…and hurt himself in the process. He watched as game-Isaac screamed and shook off the flames rapidly.

"Isaac, get out of there!" Kendra shrieked.

"I'm trying, but my game self isn't cooperating. He must've forgotten where the exit was." After taking more damage, he finally managed to get himself out as the _Kellion _exploded behind him, rendering the ship useless.

"Well, there goes our chance of escape," Hammond grumbled as he watched the engineer take out the Necromorphs in the area.

"_What the hell is happening down there?_" game-Hammond demanded, "_What happened to the shuttle?_"

"_That was our ride home," _game-Kendra responded, "_It's the only way off this ship." _

_"Kendra-" _

_"NO, Hammond! This…changes everything!_"

"Damn," Hammond whispered, "No need to get so hostile."

"Sorry," Kendra apologized, shrugging, "I can't help it if I'm stressed out."

"_Just let me think! Can you access the Command Computer?" _

_"It's no good. There's an executive lockdown of all primary systems. Without the Captain's authorization, I can't access them." _

_"Well? Where's the Captain?" _

_"Here he is. Captain Benjamin Matthius. Location: Med lab. Status: Deceased." _

_"What? How?" _

"Oh, shit!" Kyne gasped, "Ben's dead in this game? How? Why?"

"How many more of us are dead or going to die?" Mercer wondered as well, "I don't know if I want to keep playing."

"We have to now," Nicole said, "Or else we'll never know."

"_I can't access that information," _game-Kendra replied, "_Find the Captain and you'll find his RIG. With his authorization codes, I can crack this computer wide open." _

_"Damn it! Isaac, I'm sending the tram back to your location. Get to the Medical Deck and find that RIG as fast as you can." _

"Still ordering me around, I see?" Isaac asked, and Kendra rolled her eyes as she watched her game counterpart look around in fear.

"_What was that?_" she asked.

"_Holy shit!" _game-Hammond cursed, "_Come on, get out of here!" _And pretty soon, they disappeared as a Necromorph appeared on the screen before it shut off for good.

"If we die before this game really begins, I think I'll leave," Hammond commented as Isaac controlled himself to go to the tram station. After a few minutes of wandering through silent hallways, a bright, colorful Store suddenly appeared in front of game-Isaac.

"_Buy new weapons and items at the Store, and place extra items in the Safe," _the tutorial explained as Isaac opened the Store.

"I can tell I'm going to like these already," Isaac commented as he flipped through the different items.

"I think I'll buy some more Plasma Energy and Med Packs," he decided.

"Can you pick some up for us, too, while you're at it?" Kendra asked, smiling.

"I wouldn't be able to give them to you, though."

"Fine," Kendra replied as Isaac finished up at the Store and moved on to the tram. As he clicked another button and completed the chapter, he grinned and faced the others.

"One down!" he announced.

"I wonder how many there are," Kyne piped up.

"I guess we'll find out," Isaac said as he saved his progress.


	4. Chapter Two: Kinesis and Complaints

All right! Here's the next chapter of "Dead Space: Playing the Game"! Once again, a big thank you to everyone who has supported this story so far! I've decided to try a new thing where I answer people's reviews right before the beginning of each chapter, so here we go! These are the people who had questions about the story, and if you have any questions or suggestions, feel free to let me know! I don't bite! ;)

**Stormforce: **Once the gang gets through more chapters, they'll begin to notice what the chapters spell out. :)

**bigbro56: **I'll try and make the chapters longer when I get to some of the later chapters. And I'm already thinking of ideas for a Dead Space 2 story. :D

**DISCLAIMER: **Everyone belongs to Visceral Games and EA.

* * *

As Chapter Two began, the group watched as the tram slowed down and came to a stop in the Medical Deck. "I'm thinking I'll stop for the night at the end of this chapter," Isaac decided, "And pick it up tomorrow after work."

"Sounds like a plan," Nicole agreed, checking her watch, "It's getting late, anyway." To her left, Kendra rubbed her eyes, but kept them glued to the screen anyway.

As Isaac made himself disembark from the tram, a body suddenly stirred in front of him, and he watched as a blind woman repeated stroked a corpse right next to her. "Holy shit," he whispered as game-Isaac slowly approached her.

"_Shh, shh_," she whispered, "_It's all right, McCoy. He's here. Nothing to be afraid of._"

"Who's here?" Hammond asked, but Kendra shushed him.

"_I knew you would come,_" the blind woman said to game-Isaac as she pushed something towards him, "_Just like you said. I saved this for you. Can I go now? McCoy wants to take me to the shuttle." _And with that, she collapsed to the ground for good.

"Aww," everyone sighed as she died right in front of the group.

"God rest her soul," Kyne piped up as Isaac got used to using Kinesis in order to move a few body bags out of the way of another Store.

"I forgot to get the Level Two suit back on the Flight Deck," he announced to the others, "I think I'll upgrade here before moving on."

"Do you still have enough money?" Nicole asked worriedly.

"Don't worry," Isaac assured her, "I've got enough."

"Isaac Clarke," Nicole replied, "You always were very frugal when it came to money."

"If only my mother was the same way…" Isaac muttered, but then stopped himself; Kyne and Mercer were still there. He didn't want this to turn ugly fast.

Once he was finished, Isaac guided himself into the main wing of the Medical Deck, where his character received a transmission from game-Hammond.

"_Isaac? Are you there? We were attacked! Kendra's gone! One minute, she was there, then…I can't believe I lost her! We can still do this. Get me the Captain's RIG codes, and we'll find Nicole. Looks like the crew barricaded the door to the emergency wing. You'll have to blow through it to get to the Morgue. Get some thermite from Medical Storage, and a shock pad from Zero-G Therapy. Should be down the corridor. God, communication is useless in all this static…_"

"Uh oh," Kendra whispered, "What happened to me? Am I dead yet?"

"And where the hell am I?" Nicole added, "You keep mentioning me, but I'm nowhere to be seen."

"We'll find you," Isaac assured her, "Don't worry."

"I hope so."

Isaac continued through the room, ignoring the other Store that was here and saving instead. Once he was finished with that, he followed Bread Crumbs to another malfunctioning door, where a Stasis Recharge was conveniently placed. Suddenly, a message reminding Isaac on how to use Stasis appeared in front of him.

"God fucking damn it!" he roared, "How many more times is this game going to tell me how to use Stasis?"

"All right, calm down, Mr. Clarke," Kyne quipped, "It's just a game."

"I know, I know," Isaac amended, "But I know how to use Stasis already." He proceeded to use it on the door as he passed through to the other side, where the room was brightly lit. As he moved forward, however, the lights clicked and then shut off, only leaving a spinning yellow light as an alarm rang.

"Oh, shit," Hammond whispered.

"_Hazardous anomaly detected. Quarantine activated._"

"This is just _great_!" Isaac replied as he switched to his Plasma Cutter and began shooting at all the Necromorphs that were barreling towards his game counterpart.

"Don't get grabbed this time!" Kendra warned.

"I'll try not to," Isaac said, "I can't make any promises, though."

But he had to admit that he was getting much better at the combat portion of this game. He managed to avoid triggering quick time events, despite the fact that the quarantine still hadn't been lifted yet. He guided himself to the cargo lift in the corner, and after making his way downstairs, he finished off the rest of the Necromorphs, taking more damage as the same voice announced the end of the quarantine.

"Thank God that's over," Nicole whispered, "You're so badass, Isaac. Both versions of you."

"Thanks," Isaac thanked her, "And I haven't said a single word the whole time."

"Yes, you have," Kendra replied.

Isaac raised an eyebrow. "What have I said?" he challenged.

"AHHHH!" Kendra screamed, and Isaac rolled his eyes and scoffed.

"Very funny," he mumbled as he entered a side room with a bookshelf and a video log on the floor. As soon as he picked it up, everyone gasped.

"Hey look, it's Terrence!" Hammond gasped, and Kyne shot up from his place on the couch and crouched down next to Isaac so that he could see himself.

"That _is _me," he echoed, "And Ben's there, too!"

"_What in God's name is going on down there?_" game-Kyne demanded to Benjamin Matthius.

"_I think that's precisely the point, Doctor. God's work._"

"_I'm not so sure of that. We have to assume that the colony's problems are somehow connected to the Marker." _

_"You can assume all you want to. I do not. The Marker is glorious and divine. You…you know that._"

"Why are we disagreeing so much?" Kyne wondered, "We get along just fine around the office."

"There are a lot of things wrong with our characters in this game so far," Kendra responded, "Don't feel bad." They all continued to listen to the video log.

"_God moves in mysterious ways…"_ game-Kyne muttered to himself.

"_Anyway, we'll have it on board tomorrow. You can analyze it all you want to. What are you so worried about?" _

_"Worried? Captain, people are dying down there. Killing each other. Is this madness the 'transformation' Unitology teaches us?" _

_"Doctor…Terrence…there will always be risks when the stakes are high. And here, they're enormous. It could change everything." _

_"And that's what worries me." _With that, the transmission ended.

"I hope I don't turn out to be some paranoid scientist," Kyne piped up, "Whatever it is must really be bothering me."

Everyone else shrugged as Isaac continued to look around the room, finding another Audio Log in a separate hallway. On this one was another familiar voice.

"I called it!" Hammond declared, "There's Mercer! I _knew _the two of you were going to be here somehow!"

"No," Mercer whispered in disbelief, "It can't be!" But as he listened to the audio log, he realized it wasn't a joke.

"_I finally convinced Jurgens to show me the video feed from the colony," _game-Mercer's voice crooned through the speakers, "_And what I saw was glorious. Breathtaking. Miners undergoing a transformation into something extraordinary! I must know more. Even as the believer within me wants to become one of them, the scientist needs to uncover their secrets. I need to study one of these…Necromorphs, as Kyne so clinically puts it. I need to witness this infection first hand. Perhaps that patient from the colony…" _

"Forget _you_, Terrence!" Mercer said, "_I _sound like a nutcase!"

"Damn straight," Kendra agreed, "Holy shit, the game made you insane!"

"No, Mercer!" Hammond cried out, "Don't do it! You know you don't want to!"

Mercer rolled his eyes. "Apparently, I do," he replied, "I shall have to write a complaint letter to the game's producers."

Nicole picked up the jewel case for the game and retrieved the instruction manual from inside it. Flipping to the back, she read the off all the names, stopping on two in particular. "Steve Papoutsis and Glen Schofield," she read, "Those are the guys you want." Mercer quickly wrote the names down.

"I shudder to think what else they've done to my character," he mumbled as Isaac continued onwards, "And without my permission, too."

"Make that five of us," Terrence said in response as Isaac made his way through another door that led into an eerie green hallway.

"_Come on! Come on! Let me out!" _a voice suddenly cried, and everyone watched as a man entered the picture and started banging on the window. Suddenly, something crawled behind him and shot something sharp into his hand, pinning it to the window.

"_Noooo!_"

"Oooo!" everyone exclaimed, wincing.

"That's gotta hurt," Kendra commented.

But the torture didn't end there. They closed their eyes as the tiny Necromorph shot something into the man's head, decapitating him.

"OOOOO!" they cried even louder.

"That's sick!" Nicole gasped, slowly lowering her hand as game-Isaac came face to face with the Lurker in the Baby Lab, and a few others that were with it.

"I get the feeling this isn't going to be the end of the sickness," Isaac replied matter-of-factly.

* * *

_**A few minutes later…**_

_"All right,_" game-Hammond announced after game-Isaac picked up the thermite in a room above the Baby Lab, "_That thermite you picked up should be able to melt through the barricade, use the shockpad to ignite it. Hope I can hold this position, I can hear something big moving out there_."

"Well, that's not good," Hammond muttered.

"I seriously hope I'm not dead," Kendra whispered, biting her nails. She was starting to get a little freaked out from this game, especially since her game counterpart seemed to be missing.

On the screen, game-Isaac was retracing his footsteps, killing Slashers along the way until he saved again and passed through a door to Imaging Diagnostics.

_Boom! Boom! Boom! _"What the hell?" he whispered.

"I hope that's not a Necromorph," Nicole also whispered, and Isaac slowed himself down until he forced himself to raise the Plasma Cutter out in front of him. What they all saw when game-Isaac rounded the corner shocked them, for standing in the hallway up ahead was a man with his flesh torn off. He was busy banging his head against the wall, and the thudding noises seemed to only increase in volume. As soon as Isaac got his character close enough, the man banged his head once more before collapsing to the ground for good.

"Shit," Kyne cursed, "This is more serious than I thought. No wonder I'm so worried!" Everyone else nodded in agreement.

Isaac maneuvered through the door up ahead, and since he had enough Power Nodes, he decided to use one to unlock the room to his left, and when he went inside, he spotted a bunch of useful items scattered all over the floor, as well as another Audio Log.

"_You found something down there, didn't you?_" game-Mercer asked.

"Oh, great," Mercer groaned, burying his face into his hands.

"_Yes, we did,_" game-Kyne replied, to which Kyne widened his eyes.

"_So, the texts were right all this time!_"

"_I wouldn't be so sure of that. There was nothing divine in what I saw." _

_"We must embrace this! We are the first witnesses!" _

_"Matthius isn't letting anyone down on the colony! It's under quarantine until we learn more." _

_"To hell with Matthius! He of all people should know that this is greater than him, or the operation, or even the company. This is our deliverance!" _

_"Keep your damn voice down! People are dying down there!" _

_"Only the worthless and the unbelievers. But I believe. Do you believe, Terrence? Do you?" _

Kyne and Mercer glanced at each other. "How dare your game counterpart question my counterpart's beliefs?" Kyne asked incredulously, to which Mercer shrugged.

"Blame the game," was all he said, "I'm not that crazy in real life."

"And we all know you'd get your ass fired from the CEC if you just defied Matthius like that," Kendra pointed out.

"Thank you, Daniels," Mercer replied sarcastically, smirking at the computer specialist, who just smiled sweetly in return.

"Well, it's true," she said.

"It doesn't matter here. He's dead, apparently."

"We'll find out soon enough," Isaac piped up as he just finished learning that anything with a Kinesis symbol on it indicated to use the Kinesis Module to move the object. After killing the few Necromorphs on the top level, he continued on his way to Zero-G Therapy, wondering the whole time what he would find there.


	5. Chapter Two: The Trouble with Zero G

All right! I'm back with the next chapter of "Dead Space: Playing the Game"! Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter! I appreciate the support! With that in mind, here's the next chapter! Enjoy! :)

**DISCLAIMER: **Everything belongs to Visceral Games and EA.

* * *

"_Your air meter will appear when you are in a vacuum,_" the tutorial explained to game-Isaac as he made his way through his first airless hallway.

"I can still hear my heart beat," Isaac whispered, "I guess that's supposed to let us know I'm scared?"

"Looks like you show some emotion after all," Nicole replied, "Thank God they let you show fear a little bit."

"That's _all _I feel, apparently."

Isaac continued to control himself until he passed through another door leading back into an oxygen-filled environment. "_As you know,_" game-Hammond began, "_The Ishimura is able to set its gravity locally. Your gravity boots will kick in when you enter a Zero-G area._"

"Yay! Zero Gravity!" Kendra cheered, clapping her hands and earning some skeptical stares from the others.

"What?" she asked.

"You just got excited about Zero-G like you were going on vacation or something," Hammond responded.

"I like Zero-G Basketball," Kendra explained, "I play it all the time on the weekends with my brother."

"You never told us that," Kyne piped up.

"Well, now you know," Kendra told him, winking at him.

"_Your ammo counter will flash red if you can't jump to a surface,_" the tutorial explained to Isaac after he made himself deactivate the gravity in the room. Everything floated up into the air in front of game-Isaac. After the engineer quickly learned the controls for Zero-G, he decided to make his way over to the other side.

Once Isaac realized what exactly his character was programmed to do in a Zero-G environment, he scowled. "So let me get this straight," he began, "I can only jump from point to point? I can't just float anywhere I want? That's constraining. It would make this part so much easier."

"Don't sweat it, Isaac," Nicole coaxed, wrapping her arm around his shoulder and squeezing it a little bit as she continued to watch him play the game.

After Isaac made himself jump over to the door in the corner, he felt someone tap him on the shoulder, and when he turned around, he saw Mercer leaning over the edge of the seat and handing him the piece of paper he had been writing on before.

"If you have something to complain about," he began, "Just include it in my letter."

"To Steve and Glen?" Isaac asked, "I'll keep that in mind. Thanks, Mercer!"

"Those two will have a lot to answer for," Kyne decided as he watched game-Isaac pick up a battery using Kinesis in order to fit it into the compartment it belonged to, therefore opening the door in front of him. Once he was inside, he collected the few items that were in there before picking up a shock pad. As soon as "Objective Complete" flashed in front of his face, everyone in the room cheered.

"_Great, you got a shock pad,_" game-Hammond complimented, "_Combine that with the thermite at the barrier to destroy it. Shit. I can hear more coming. Moving through the vents. Stay safe, Isaac._"

"Yeah, I'll try," Isaac commented out loud, "I haven't died so far."

Kyne suddenly knocked on the wooden coffee table in front of him and Mercer.

"Terrence!" Mercer snapped, "Must you?"

"Maybe you're more like your counterpart than you thought," Hammond added. Kyne glared at him for a second.

Meanwhile, Isaac was jumping from point to point as he killed some Leapers that were flying all around him and swiping at him. He used the zero gravity to his advantage as he jumped away from the Necromorphs and back to the other door. "_Exiting zero gravity,_" the female voice announced, "_Entering vacuum._"

"La di da di da," Isaac sang as he trekked back through the vacuum, "Di da di da…OH, SHIT!"

Everyone gasped and jumped slightly when Isaac suddenly cursed out of nowhere. "Oh my God!" Kendra cried as a Slasher appeared from around the corner and inflicted damage on Isaac.

"How did I not see that coming?" Isaac growled once he was finished dismembering the creature.

"Well, it _was _a vacuum," Nicole said in Isaac's defense, "There was no way you could have heard it coming."

"Well, I'll have to watch out for that next time," Isaac told her, "Thanks for backing me up, though." He kissed Nicole's forehead as he said this.

"You two make such a good couple," Kyne commented, "You remind me of me and Amelia, when we were young." He sighed nostalgically as he remembered those days. Mercer just sighed and fixed his gaze on the screen.

"Don't be so down, Mercer," Hammond chided, but the scientist held up a hand to silence him. The CEC employee just shrugged and faced Isaac as he made his way back through the Imaging Diagnostics Room, killing Leapers and Slashers in the process. As he guided himself back to the main room, he passed by the Stasis Recharge again, when all of a sudden, game-Isaac cried out in pain.

"Damn, Isaac," Kendra whispered as Isaac repeated tapped the "A" button to fight off the Swarms that had latched onto his back, "You're so unlucky with quick time events."

"_You _try playing this game for a little bit," he replied, shooting the smaller Necromorphs and assuring that they were officially dead, "And you'll see how tough it is."

"It'll only get easier the more time you spend playing it," Hammond assured him.

Once game-Isaac was back at the Store, he decided to purchase a Line Gun and a Pulse Rifle, now that he had even more money than before. "How are you saving all this money, Mr. Clarke?" Kyne had to ask once Isaac was saving the game.

"I'm just selling whatever I don't need," Isaac replied as he had himself place the thermite bomb on the blocked passageway. As it blew up in front of him, he watched as his character covered his eyes.

"I'm surprised you didn't get hit by the blast," Hammond commented in awe.

"I'm Superman," Isaac joked, grinning at Nicole, "I can withstand anything, even an explosion right in front of me."

"We've already established that game characters are invincible," Kendra reminded Hammond, who pouted in response.

"_Okay, you're through,_" game-Hammond whispered, "_Should be clear from there to the morgue. Remember, the codes are on the captain's body._"

"Thanks for the tip," Isaac thanked him in a deadpan voice as he continued on his way.

"That's what I'm here for," Hammond teased.

"Where am I?" Kendra asked, "I've been missing for almost the whole chapter and you two don't give a damn!"

"Of course we do!" Hammond insisted.

"You have a funny way of showing it," Kendra muttered darkly, resting her chin in her hand as Isaac made himself pick up a video log on the floor.

"Nicole!" Isaac gasped as Nicole widened her eyes next to her boyfriend.

"There I am, finally!" Nicole exclaimed.

"_This is Senior Medical Officer Nicole Brennan, transmitting ship wide,_" game-Nicole announced, "_We need more help! We don't have the resources to deal with this many cases! Nobody will tell us what's happening! These wounds…we're not equipped to deal with this. God…get him to the table! Hold him! Nurse, you hold him down! Christ…end recording._"

"_That was Nicole, right?_" game-Hammond buzzed in, "_I can't tell from here when that log was made…I'm sure she's around here somewhere._"

"Maybe I'm hiding in a side room or something," Nicole guessed, frowning in thought, "Or I left the Medical Deck altogether and hid with some other crewmembers."

"I hope," Isaac responded, "Don't worry, we'll find you soon." He wrapped his arm around her for a little bit.

* * *

_**An ambush in the emergency room later…**_

Isaac sighed as he had his game counterpart reload his Line Gun; after somehow surviving an ambush from a bunch of Necromorphs, he found he was low on ammo. He would have to remedy that at the next Store or from other storage rooms.

"Look out!" Hammond cried as a few Necromorphs sprinted towards Isaac, who reacted in time enough to avoid more quick time events. Once all the Necromorphs in the area were down, he continued through the doors up ahead, where a gruesome sight greeted him.

A man was strapped down to a lab table while a woman stood over him, slicing into his stomach while laughing all the same. After that, she turned to face game-Isaac as she raised the saw she was using to her neck and slit herself. "Oooo!" everyone cried, covering his or her eyes.

"Holy shit!" Kendra cursed, "This is crazy! Why would Steve and Glen make a game like this?"

"Complaint number two in my letter," Mercer answered, "Too much blood and insanity."

"We should have known from the fucking _bloody hand _on the front cover," Isaac replied as he continued onward to the next Save Station, where the large double doors in front of him were unlocked.

"There's the Morgue," Isaac announced to the others, "Time to go inside." He opened the doors, but as soon as he stepped inside, glass on both sides began to break around him.

"Holy shit!" Hammond gasped, "What's going on in there?"

"You got me," Nicole said, shrugging.

"_Science log, Chief Science Officer Dr. Kyne reporting,_" game-Kyne reported once game-Isaac picked up his audio log.

"It's Terrence again!" Hammond reported happily.

"_The colony's problems concern me greatly. I have no doubt they are linked somehow to the discovery of the Marker, but the exact nature of that connection is still unknown. Almost 40 percent of the colonists are experiencing a form of dementia. The obvious symptoms are acute depression, insomnia, and hallucination. Incidence of violence and even murder also indicate extreme paranoia. Dr. Mercer has advised that I bring some of the affected on board for study. Dr. Welland, the planetside psychiatrist, has reported that his own analysis has been fruitless. I'm hesitant to rely on Dr. Mercer at this point, but I need his expertise. We need solutions, and we need them quickly." _

Everyone glanced at Kyne and Mercer once the audio log ended. "Why is the game making me so untrustworthy of you?" Kyne wondered, "Can I add that to my list of complaints? Tell Steve and Glen that we happen to get along very well."

"And that Mercer isn't a psycho," Kendra piped up, nodding her head.

"You still need me, though, apparently," Mercer said, smirking to himself.

"Oh…" Kyne started, but didn't finish as Isaac navigated himself down into the Morgue. As soon as he arrived, he looked through the large glass window and found something disturbing.

"Oh my God, it's Matthius!" he gasped, and Kyne rushed forward to get a look himself.

"I can't believe he's dead!" Kyne yelled, "I still want to know _how_, though. Was foul play involved?"

Before anyone could answer, something suddenly swooped down over Matthius's body, and everyone watched as the Infector stuck its proboscis into the Captain's head and quickly transformed him into a Necromorph-an Enhanced Slasher. "_Shit!_" everyone in the room cursed as Matthius and the Infector broke through the window and began attempting to attack game-Isaac.

"Shoot it, Isaac!" Nicole cried, "Shoot it!"

Raising his new Pulse Rifle, Isaac made himself aim at the Enhanced Slasher, which he managed to bring down with no problem. He very nearly missed getting the Infector, but after taking some damage, he managed to get involved in another quick time event, which resulted in an instant kill for the Infector. "Well, that wasn't too bad," he sighed as he picked up the Captain's RIG.

"_Codes received, and they look good,_" game-Hammond reported, "_Thank God. I'll start accessing the Captain's records right now. Head to the tram station, and I'll contact you there. I'm going to find out what the hell happened to the ship…" _He disappeared after that.

"Uh, how about a 'thank you for risking your life and limbs for that RIG, Isaac'?" Isaac asked, facing Hammond.

Hammond shrugged. "Blame the game, as Mercer said before," was all he said.

"Right," Isaac replied skeptically, making his way back to the tram station. Once he was close enough, game-Hammond contacted him again after he neutralized another Enhanced Slasher.

"_Isaac! Somehow, one of them found a way down to the Captain's Nest! I managed to contain it in a damaged escape pod. Lifting the executive lockdown now…I found the deck logs…Whatever is happening around here, it came from the planet when they cracked it open. It spread to the colony and reached the ship. Isaac, this isn't an infection. It's some form of alien life! Shit! We've got bigger problems. The ship's engines are offline and our orbit is decaying! Get over to the Engineering Deck ASAP, while I stay here and figure out what the problem is." _

Everyone was quiet for a minute until Kendra broke the silence. "Dun, dun, dun," she intoned, causing everyone to burst out laughing after being scared of the last few bits of the chapter.

"You mean while you stay there and let me do all the work," Isaac corrected, smirking at Hammond.

Once Isaac made it back to the tram, he hit the button and forced it to go to the Engineering Deck just as "Chapter 2: Intensive Care: COMPLETED" flashed on the screen.

"So, what do you all say?" Isaac asked as he saved his progress, "Meet back here tomorrow night for chapters three and four?"

"Hell yeah!" Kendra and Hammond exclaimed happily, "We'll see you then!" And after bidding everyone goodbye, the two of them were out the door.

"Kyne? Mercer?" Nicole asked, facing the Unitologists.

"We'll be back," Mercer confirmed, getting up to leave as well and dragging Kyne behind him.

"That was…interesting," Isaac gasped, "A game about us. My hands are killing me, though."

"Want someone else to play tomorrow night?" Nicole asked with concern, taking his hands in hers.

"No, I think I'll be good," Isaac assured her, "But thanks." His girlfriend just smiled.

"I'll see you tomorrow night," she said to him, grinning widely now, "I love you!" She kissed him quickly and walked through the front door as well.

"I love you, too," Isaac called out after her, grinning to himself. He couldn't wait for tomorrow night!


	6. Chapter Three: Gameplay Surprises

Thanks again for the reviews, favorites, and alerts! I decided to put this chapter up now as another thank you! I hope you enjoy it! :) Thank you as well to .-SnipingWolf for her suggestion. At first, I wasn't sure what to do, but now, I've just gotten a burst of inspiration. So thanks to her for that!

**DISCLAIMER: **Everyone belongs to Visceral Games and EA.

_**

* * *

**_

_**The next day…**_

Work at the CEC could not have gone any faster for Isaac, Nicole, and their colleagues. After the excitement and curiosity of playing _Dead Space _the previous night, they couldn't wait to meet up at Isaac's apartment again tonight. Tonight, they would try and get through chapters three and four.

All throughout the day, the six of them passed each other in the hallways, grinning secretively at the knowledge that they would all get to see more _Dead Space _later that night, and the others couldn't understand what was going on.

As Isaac was busy inspecting the blue prints for one of the CEC's smaller space ships, he heard footsteps as someone approached him. "Hey, Isaac," Jacob Temple greeted, sauntering over to him nonchalantly.

"Hey, Jacob," Isaac replied, "What's going on?"

"I've noticed you and the others getting close," Temple quipped, "Where were all of you yesterday? We missed you all at the bar last night!"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," Isaac said, smiling to himself.

"That makes me even more curious," Temple said, "What were you all doing?"

"Playing a videogame about our lives," Isaac explained dryly.

At first, Temple blinked a few times before cracking up and clutching his stomach. "You're kidding, right?" he asked, "That's a good one, Isaac!"

"I'm dead serious," Isaac replied in a deadpan tone of voice, "No pun intended."

But Temple only continued to laugh. "Clarke," he began, "You've always had an active imagination! Especially with what you said about Unitologists the other day-"

"Shh!" Isaac hissed, covering Temple's mouth with his gloved hand, "Kyne and Mercer are around here. I don't want them to overhear me."

"If you're telling the truth," Temple said, "Then I can imagine how awkward it is with them around."

"Just a little bit. They're all coming over again tonight. We'll see what happens from there."

* * *

_**Later on that day…**_

"Time for chapter three!" Kendra singsonged as she, Hammond, Nicole, Mercer, Kyne, and Isaac all took their seats in their same spots from the previous night.

"And four," Hammond added, nodding with his eyes closed.

"Oh, magic game," Isaac intoned as the Start Menu appeared, "What secrets shall you reveal for us tonight?"

"Where I am," Nicole piped up, scooting closer to Isaac, "And when you're going to find me."

"Where _I _am, too!" Kendra added, "You two barely mentioned me after chapter two!" She pointed at Isaac and Hammond.

"Sorry," Hammond apologized, shrugging as Isaac loaded his game. They watched in silence as the tram pulled into the Engineering Deck. The words "Chapter Three: Course Correction" flashed across the screen right before that.

"You shouldn't have a problem with this level, Mr. Clarke," Kyne quipped, "This is your area of expertise."

As game-Isaac disembarked from the tram, game-Hammond appeared in a video log in front of him. "_Isaac,_" he began, "_We've got two problems, and we're working on borrowed time! First, there's no fuel in the engines. Second, the gravity centrifuge is offline, which means there's a couple of trillion tons of rock pulling us down. I need you to get that centrifuge operational, refuel the main engine, and fire it up so I can stabilize the ship's orbit._"

"Here's another problem," Kendra said, "_I'm still missing!_"

"Yeah, where'd you go?" Kyne piped up in response.

"We'll find you, too," Isaac assured her, "Don't worry." He then turned back to the game itself, where he was making his way into the main room, where a Store and a Save Station were located. After buying some more Line Racks and Med Packs at the Store, he quickly saved his progress before moving on.

"Another audio log," he whispered, "Let's see what this one says." He moved himself forward to pick it up just as another familiar voice appeared.

"Jacob Temple!" Isaac gasped, "I was _just _talking to him earlier today! Holy crap!"

"_Personal log...acting Chief Engineer Jacob Temple_," the man on the other end reported, "_It's been two days since they pulled the planet open, since the Captain died. The panic, the riots...They were nothing compared with what came after. Our friends, our co-workers started coming back...changed...coming back to kill us, drag us away. Rucker disappeared this morning, and I have to assume he's dead. My crew...they're starting to crack. I'm trying to keep an eye on them, but right now I have bigger problems. We're hemorrhaging fuel, and the primary engine is laboring. Danvers and I are going to try to reach the fuel depot to see if we can fix it. Temple out._"

"This is the weirdest fucking game I've ever seen," Hammond mused, folding his hands.

"If Temple didn't believe me earlier, he would now," Isaac added in agreement.

"You should invite him over," Kendra suggested.

Isaac shook his head. "He's probably out with Elizabeth right now," he said, "And wondering what the hell happened to us tonight, too."

"Forget about him," Mercer also suggested, waving his hand.

"I'll try." With that, Isaac checked Bread Crumbs before moving through a large, circular door up ahead that led to the Refueling Chamber.

"Oh, boy," Isaac said, "I see another Necromorph lying on the floor. I'm going to take your advice, Terrence." And with that, he made his character raise the Plasma Cutter and shoot at the Slasher, which was indeed alive.

"Good thinking!" Kendra complimented Kyne, smiling in his direction, but the group quieted down once again as everyone heard the next audio log.

"_What in hell is going on in here?_" Temple demanded, "_Danvers!_"

"_It's…it's Henderson! He's crazy! Pulling his own teeth out!" _

"Oh, shit!" Hammond gasped, covering his mouth in horror.

"This is crazy!" Nicole also added.

"_Henderson! For God's sake!_"

"_Uhh…_" The voice trailed off from there.

"_Oh God, is he dead?" _

_"Relax, he's alive. But he hit that door pretty hard." _

_"Man…why would he do something like that? I don't get it." _

"That's what I'd like to know," Isaac answered for him as he continued onwards. He glanced around for a second to see that the others had wide eyes that were practically glued to the screen. Everyone seemed to be really getting involved in this game. It was _that _engaging. _At least Steve and Glen got that right, _he thought wryly to himself as he marched forward.

The next area was quiet for the most part, except for a few Lurkers and Slashers that appeared from out of nowhere to attack game-Isaac. After he was finished killing all of them and collecting whatever items he could, he approached a switch for refueling the engines, which he used Kinesis in order to do so.

"_Refueling system activated._"

"One down, one to go," Isaac mumbled, "God, I hope this works." Nicole squeezed his hand as he used Kinesis again to pull a gondola towards himself, and after he got on, he silently rode across the abyss to the other side, hoping that he would be able to finish refueling the engines in peace. Knowing this game, however, that probably wasn't happening.

"This really isn't your day, Isaac," Kendra commented as game-Isaac found himself caught up in another ambush.

"God, does this game ever show me any mercy?" the engineer asked.

"Nope," the other five replied in unison, which scared them a little bit that they were all thinking alike.

Once the ambush was over, Isaac picked up another audio log from Temple and his partner, Danvers. "Temple should listen to this," he quipped.

_"Never should have let him live. Never should have let him live_."

"_Shut it, Danvers_!" Jacob Temple snapped in response_, _"_Shut...it! Engineering log, Temple reporting. Someone has shut off the fuel lines to the primary engine, and damaged the valves in the process. They need to be repaired before I can re-open them, but we're running out of time. With the engine offline, orbit decay will begin in less than ten hours. I just can't understand who would do this. If it's one of those crazy Unitologist bastards, I'll break their neck!" _

_"__Henderson said they were coming. We never should have let him live_," Danvers repeated_. _

_"Shut up, Danvers, and help me with the tools. Temple out._"The recording ended.

"Sheesh, Jacob," Nicole gasped, "Do you have to be this harsh?"

"He has a strong will," Mercer suddenly spoke up, "I like that." At that, everyone turned to face him with raised eyebrows.

"What?" he asked.

"Temple hates Unitologists," Kyne replied, "You know that."

"I never said I liked _him_. Listening skills, Terrence." Kyne pouted, though he, too, had to wonder why game-Temple was so eager to blame the Unitologists for what was happening in the game.

"You two get along so well at the office," Hammond argued, "Temple seems like a nice enough guy. Why don't you like him, other than the fact that he hates your religion?"

But Mercer wouldn't comment on it anymore.

* * *

_**Refueling the engine and retracing his steps later…**_

"Time to go to the centrifuge," Isaac sighed after saving his progress. He had gotten into the habit of saving every time he made a significant amount of progress so that he wouldn't lose it.

After quickly riding an elevator up to the next floor, he quickly stopped at the Bench outside the decontamination room next to him, where he continued to upgrade some of his weapons before moving on.

"_Decontamination in process. Please stand by._"

"Oh, crap," Isaac groaned, "Another quarantine?"

As soon as the quarantine started, however, it was over. "Yeah, a quarantine of three Necromorphs," Kendra commented, "Not much of a quarantine there." She smirked.

"Amen to that," Nicole conceded, smiling as Isaac made his way to the main doors leading to the centrifuge. Along the way, he heard a low growling noise and something else that sounded like…crunching.

"What the hell is that?" Hammond whispered in a terrified voice.

"Beats me," Isaac answered, "It'd be nice to have some help, you know." He glanced at Hammond and Kendra as he said this.

"Don't look at me," Kendra replied, shrugging, "I'm still MIA."

"_Entering Zero-Gravity._"

"Another Zero-G environment, Kendra," Hammond teased, "Why aren't you getting excited?"

"I _am_ excited," Kendra insisted, "But anxious at the same time."

Meanwhile, by the centrifuge, Nicole was watching as game-Isaac managed to kill a few Leapers that were trying to attack him. "You're getting good at this game," she complimented as Isaac made himself jump down to the floor.

"Thanks, Nicky," Isaac thanked her again, "This is starting to become a piece of cake now!"

"_Generator module attached,_" the usual voice reported after Isaac used Stasis and Kinesis to move the first module.

The engineer wasted no time in forcing himself to attach the other module in the same fashion. "_Generator module attached. Centrifuge power restored._"

"I'm getting the feeling something's going to happen again," Mercer announced as Isaac used Zero-G to jump back to the top level.

"Are you psychic or something?" Hammond joked, "Do you magically know what's going to happen?"

"_God moves in mysterious ways_," Mercer quoted from game-Kyne earlier.

"I see I've inspired you?" Kyne asked, smirking at Mercer, who only shrugged in response.

On the screen, game-Isaac was refueling on his Stasis Module before turning on gravity once more. Suddenly, the air began to vent into space.

"_Centrifuge activated. Reestablishing balance with planetary cargo. Gravity restored. Entering vacuum._"

"Good thing I upgraded my air recently," Isaac commented as he guided himself to the elevator in the corner. After descending down to the next level, everyone gasped.

"Holy shit!" Kendra cried, "Be careful, Isaac!"

"_You're doing great, Isaac!_" game-Hammond complimented, "_Centrifuge and gyros are both a hundred percent and stabilized. Now, get out of there and focus on the engine. I don't know how much time we have left._"

"I guess you'll have to hide in those alcoves," Nicole realized, "What were Steve and Glen thinking with this part?"

Isaac shrugged and began to guide himself through the different alcoves, killing the few Necromorphs that tried to take his hiding spots and refilling his oxygen in the process. This part soon had all six of them on the edge of their seats; the centrifuge was spinning much faster now, not giving game-Isaac enough time to run in between alcoves. He somehow managed, however, taking the second elevator back to the main door and finally exiting the vacuum.

"Well, that wasn't too bad," Isaac commented as he saved again, "I'm really starting to like this game." He opened the door up ahead as he continued to talk.

"I mean, the game play is easy, the storyline is getting better, and-"

"HOLY SHIT!" everyone else cursed in unison, effectively interrupting him.

"What?" Isaac asked, and then gasped a second later, "Oh, _shit!_"

Everyone watched as a huge tentacle with a huge, yellow pod appeared out of nowhere and grabbed game-Isaac by the ankle. As this was happening, Isaac started to button mash with the "A" button out of habit, but he soon found out that this wasn't another quick time event. The tentacle slammed him down to the ground and began to drag him away.

"Okay," Isaac sighed as he tried to calm himself and everyone else down, "It's just a cutscene. I don't have to do anything." Everyone nodded, and they all watched as the tentacle continued to drag game-Isaac as it growled.

"This is the worst cutscene ever!" Kyne gasped, "Why isn't anything happening?"

"Don't worry," Isaac assured him, "Any moment now."

But as more time passed, the closer game-Isaac and the Drag Tentacle got to the hole it had come from. "Are you sure it's just a cutscene?" Hammond asked doubtfully.

"Positive," Isaac confirmed. However, Nicole suddenly widened her eyes, as if she had just had an epiphany, and shoved the controller into the engineer's hand.

"Isaac!" she yelled, "You _are _supposed to do something! Shoot the yellow pod!"

"What?" Isaac questioned, "Aww, _shit!_"

He managed to land one shot in to the pod, but it was too late, for the Drag Tentacle had dragged game-Isaac far enough where he was fighting to get out of the hole. The six of them watched in mute horror as game-Isaac went limp, got dragged into the hole, and emitted the sound of himself flat lining. In the next second, everything faded to black as blood splattered across the screen.


	7. Chapter Three: A New Type of Enemy

Wow! Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed the last chapter! I'm really glad you enjoyed their reactions to the Drag Tentacle! :D Sorry this chapter is shorter than the others, but there wasn't much of Chapter Three left after the Drag Tentacle. Still, I hope you enjoy this one as well. Thanks again! :)

**DISCLAIMER: **Everything belongs to Visceral Games and EA.

* * *

Isaac didn't know what to make of what had just happened. He and the others sat in silence as the _USG Ishimura's _logo flashed across the loading screen. "Did I…just die for the first time in this game?" he asked out loud.

The others slowly nodded, their eyes still fixed on the screen. "You just got owned by a tentacle," Kendra whispered, "How the hell did that happen?"

"I didn't realize I was supposed to _shoot _it!" Isaac replied, "The game didn't tell me that."

"They just expect you to figure it out yourself," Hammond piped up, "Well, at least you know now."

"Yeah, _after _getting dragged into the hole of death," Isaac quipped as the game finished loading, leaving game-Isaac standing outside the round, circular door again, "Let's try this again, shall we?"

Everyone watched with bated breath as the Drag Tentacle reappeared, grabbing game-Isaac and slamming him to the ground again. This time, however, Isaac was ready. Aiming his Plasma Cutter, he began to shoot at the yellow pod any time he wasn't being dragged around violently. There were a few shots that he missed, however, and with another growl, the Drag Tentacle continued its assault on game-Isaac.

"Shoot it! Shoot it!" Kyne suddenly yelled out loud, startling Mercer just as the latter raised a cup of beer to his lips.

"I'm trying!" Isaac replied, and fortunately, at the last minute, he managed to get one more shot in, and groaning, the Drag Tentacle let go of him and retreated into the hole where it had come from. The others raised their beer cans in the air as they cheered.

"You've conquered the Tentacle of Doom!" Kendra sang, to which everyone laughed as game-Isaac continued on his way.

"Thank God I didn't die again," Isaac said in response as he hugged Nicole, "But I feel bad, though. Just when I was getting really confident with this game…" He trailed off at that point.

"Nobody's perfect, Mr. Clarke," Kyne spoke up from behind him, "It's okay to die on your first run through the game."

"Yeah, don't worry about it, Isaac," Nicole added in agreement.

"You're both right," Isaac decided after thinking about it for a minute, "Let's just keep going."

After killing another Slasher just past the decontamination room, Isaac guided himself back to the elevator when a video log popped up in front of him. "_Isaac? Can you hear me?_" the person began, _"It's Kendra. They attacked me! I ran for it and Hammond just…he just disappeared!_"

"Kendra!" Nicole cried.

"Yay, you're back!" Hammond also cheered, hugging Kendra, who was breathing a sigh of relief.

"Thank God I'm still alive!" she sighed happily.

"_Kendra!_" game-Hammond piped up, "_Where are you?_"

"_Nice to see you're alive and well, Hammond,_" game-Kendra said to him in response,_ "I've barricaded myself in the computer core. I can hear them moving outside. But I don't think they know I'm in here. I can log into everything from here! I hacked the root, and found some reports from the colony. Even before they cracked the planet, the colonists were experiencing widespread dementia. It seems to be related to some artifact they found on the planet. Something called 'the Marker.' I'll keep looking. I've got your location, and I'm going to unlock the door to Fuel Storage. You can get to the engine chamber from there._"

"I guess I'm not even happy to see you still alive," Isaac said as he continued to Fuel Storage, "I really wish they'd give me some other emotions."

Kendra shrugged and focused on the game again as game-Isaac began to travel through another zero-gravity and airless environment. There were a few Leapers in this area, but Isaac managed to make himself avoid them. Once he was back inside the _Ishimura,_ he continued onward to Fuel Storage and eventually arrived there after riding various elevators down to the different floors and passing through a door where he had had to use Stasis. He decided to rest for a second as he saved his progress.

"You're almost there, Isaac!" Hammond spoke up, "I feel like the end of the chapter might come after this."

Isaac quickly checked the status on his missions. "You're right," he confirmed, "This is the last thing I have to do."

After saving, he entered the main fueling room, and what he saw in the distance surprised him: a few Slashers were dragging another body away.

"I don't even want to know what's going on there," Isaac mumbled as he raised his Plasma Cutter and began to shoot at them. Growling, they let go of the body and charged towards game-Isaac, who took them out with little to no problems. That was when it happened.

"What's that in the distance?" Kyne asked, pointing at another Necromorph that didn't look like the others. Unlike the Slashers, this one was short and round near the belly, and it slowly emerged from its hiding spot and marched towards Isaac's counterpart.

"Just another Necromorph," Isaac replied, "I'll dismember it."

"Careful!" Kendra cautioned, "You don't want to get killed again!"

"Definitely not," Isaac agreed, but as soon as he hit this Necromorph in the stomach, it died instantly.

"That was easy," Mercer mumbled under his breath.

Hammond, however, was cupping his chin with one of his hands. "A little _too _easy," he added, "Something's crawling out from its stomach!"

Suddenly, the letter "A" appeared over game-Isaac's shoulder as more Swarms attached to his back and all over his body. "Aww, _shit_!" the engineer cursed as he nervously tapped the "A" button to shake them off. He took a lot of damage in the process, but managed to kill all of them, too.

"Now we know for the future not to hit those ones in the stomach," Nicole decided.

Isaac took a deep breath and ran over to the control panel in the middle of the room. "_Ignition sequence initiated,_" a robotic voice echoed as game-Isaac activated the sequence, "_Please stand by._"

"I'm really beginning to hate that phrase," Hammond decided, rocking back and forth a little bit, "Any time the computer says that, something bad _always _happens."

Lo and behold, Hammond turned out to be right in this instance. A horde of Necromorphs, including the new Pregnant, burst through the vents all around game-Isaac and ambushed him. Once again, everyone in the group had his or her eyes transfixed on the screen, unable to comment on the bloodbath in front of them.

"Holy shit," Kendra whispered, "Though I have to say this is getting a little bit repetitive now. Too many quarantines for my liking."

"That makes two of us," Isaac replied as he managed to finish off the last of the Necromorphs minutes later.

"_Engines ready. Please confirm ignition._" Game-Isaac quickly took care of that, and suddenly, the engine room became noisy as the engines fired up again.

"_Engines firing._"

"Time to go back," Nicole said, and after nodding, Isaac turned himself around and went to go save his progress again. As soon as game-Hammond popped up in a video log, however, the Save Station went in standby mode.

"_It's working!_" he exclaimed in relief,_ "We're online and functional! Finally some good news. Get a tram to the Bridge, Isaac. I'm going to take us back into a geostationary orbit_."

"Gee, Hammond," Isaac began, facing the real Hammond, "Not even a 'thank you' for going through all that, either? You and Kendra don't seem that grateful."

"Oh, we are," Hammond responded, "In our own little way." He couldn't stop the grin from forming across his face.

However, game-Kendra appeared next, and she looked concerned about something. "_Wait, wait! We're not safe yet_," she informed the others, "_The ship's asteroid defense system is offline. On the way up, the ship's going to pass through a debris field thrown up from the Planet Crack. We'll be ripped to pieces unless you restart it_."

"_God damn it!" _game-Hammond snapped in frustration,_ "I'll start working on it from here. Isaac, meet me at the Bridge. You can do more good here than I can_."

"See?" Kendra asked as Isaac saved his progress, "We _do _value your skills."

"Very funny," Isaac mumbled as he followed Bread Crumbs back to the tram station so that he could get to the Bridge. Along the way, however, something interesting happened that none of them were expecting.

Right before Isaac entered the main room where he had first found Jacob Temple's audio log, he heard the familiar sound of an audio log being transmitted.

"_Isaac?_" the voice on the other end asked, "_Isaac, where are you? It's me…Nicole._"

"_Nicole!_" everyone in the room gasped.

"How'd you know where I was?" Isaac asked his girlfriend, who just shrugged, surprised to hear her own voice in the game.

"Better yet," she corrected, "Why didn't I tell you where I was?"

"AHH!" Hammond suddenly cried just as a blade appeared in the corner of the screen, and Isaac turned himself around to see one last Slasher attempting to make an attack on his game character. Isaac quickly saved again after defeating it before moving on back to the tram station. He sighed as he pressed the button to make the tram start moving towards the Bridge, where game-Hammond was.

"Chapter Three: Course Correction: COMPLETED," the screen read as Isaac saved yet again.

"So, how's everyone feeling about this game after three chapters?" Isaac asked, facing his friends.

The others nodded and grinned a little bit. "Pretty good," Kendra and Hammond answered. Nicole, Kyne, and Mercer also agreed, even though Kyne suddenly frowned in thought.

"What's up, Terrence?" Hammond asked.

Kyne looked up from the ground. "Nothing!" he insisted, "It's just that…I've been noticing something."

"What?" Nicole asked.

"The chapter titles seem to be spelling something so far."


	8. Chapter Four: Shock Value

Okay! Here's the next chapter! Remember when I said that not all parts of the story were going to be humorous? This is one of those chapters (you'll see why when you read it). Other than that, thanks again for the support! And I hope you like this chapter as well! :)

**DISCLAIMER: **Everything belongs to Visceral Games and EA

* * *

Nobody quite believed Kyne when he announced that he thought the first letter in each chapter title was trying to spell something, but it became more apparent as Chapter Four: Obliteration Imminent Began.

"Hey, Terrence is right," Nicole confirmed, "Look at that! The first letter is 'O'."

"NICO," Isaac read as the tram in the game slowed down on the Bridge, "Nicole? I wonder if it's going to spell your name."

"Looks like it so far."

"So now, we have another puzzle to figure out," Kendra decided, "Decoding these chapters."

"I hope we can all last long enough to decipher this hidden message," Hammond sighed.

Kendra laughed. "We've gotten through three chapters already," she teased, "We're not losing our brain power anytime soon."

"I'm just glad you're not dead," Nicole said with relief.

"Me too," Kendra said, "_Believe me._"

Isaac chuckled to himself as game-Hammond contacted game-Isaac and game-Kendra at the same time. "_Isaac, come in,_" he began,_ "Kendra's right, the ADS is completely shot. I'll need your help to fix this. Kendra, if you can hear me, see if you can get into the ship reports. It sounds like you have better access from there._"

"_When were you going to tell us about the artifact, Hammond? This 'Marker'?" _game-Kendra demanded.

"_What are you talking about? I don't know anything about that. It's referenced in the captain's records. They brought it up from the planet-" _

_"It's on the ship?" _

_"In cargo. They think it's of alien origin. But I don't know what the hell it is._"

_"__Really? CEC didn't know anything about it? You're lying,_" game-Kendra accused, narrowing her eyes.

Hammond gasped and placed a hand over his chest. "That hurts, Kendra," he said in a mock-hurt tone of voice.

"Why am I hating you more and more?" Kendra asked in response, "_Are _you lying about this?"

"I have no freaking clue."

"_Back off!" _game-Hammond snapped,_ "I am not the bad guy here. We're all shaky right now. You're going to have to trust that I don't know anything about it. We've entered the debris field! Get to the captain's nest. I'll explain everything later. Hammond out_."

"What do you mean, 'you'll explain everything later'?" Isaac asked as both game-Hammond and game-Kendra disappeared.

"Beats me," Hammond muttered, "Hey, Mercer, can I add that as a complaint to your letter? Steve and Glen need to realize that Kendra and I get along really well in real life."

"By all means," Mercer replied, gesturing to the list he and Kyne had started to make at work earlier that day. They then turned their attentions back to the screen, where Isaac was making himself journey through the halls leading to the Bridge. Up ahead, an arm suddenly popped through the window with a loud _bang,_ which made everyone jump.

"Are you all feeling afraid?" Mercer whispered in a somewhat creepy voice.

Isaac paused the game as he slowly turned to face the Unitologist, and after that, the others followed suit as they all gave him a _What the fuck _look.

"What?" Mercer asked.

"That…was actually pretty scary," Hammond commented, "I wonder if you had some say in this game?"

Mercer shrugged, and Isaac resumed the game so that he could get to the Store. After finishing there, he entered the Main Atrium.

"Oh, _shit_!" the engineer cursed as he forced his game counterpart to stop, for in front of him, a rather large asteroid suddenly crashed through the roof with a loud _bang_.

"Look out!" Kendra shouted, pointing, "Thank God you weren't closer to that thing!"

"_Warning: hull breach detected." _

_"Isaac!" _game-Kendra cried, "_Impact on the Bridge, right at your feet! I'm reading heavy damage, but containment looks solid. Life support is stabilized. We've got to get the ADS working._"

"This ship is cursed," Kyne decided, "The boys at CEC better not make us work aboard something like the _Ishimura. _Ever!"

"I'll drink to that," Hammond said, nodding at him and taking a sip of beer himself. Isaac rolled his eyes and continued on his way, saving at the Save Station in front of him.

"That's a gorgeous view of Aegis 7!" Kendra gasped, widening her eyes at the sight.

"Yeah," Nicole agreed with a smirk on her face, "Even with a ton of debris crashing down right in front of us."

Kendra nudged the Senior Medical Officer's shoulder and muttered, "Very funny."

Meanwhile, game-Isaac took an elevator down to the control room, where he eventually found game-Hammond staring out the window.

"This would be the perfect opportunity for me to start speaking," Isaac mused as game-Hammond turned around.

"_Isaac_!" he gasped, "_Damn, you scared me_! _This place is making me jumpy. Fucking asteroids coming through the roof!_"

"Boo!" Isaac suddenly cried, letting go of the controller to scare the real Hammond, who just laughed and shook his head.

"You don't scare me _that _easily, Isaac Clarke," Hammond replied, smiling.

"_Look_," game-Hammond continued, "_I know Kendra doesn't trust me, but I don't know anything about a Marker or anything else. This was supposed to be a repair mission, plain and simple._" He sighed and pointed to the ADS.

"_This mess is the Asteroid Defense System_," he explained, "_I can fix these boards, but the main power routing is shot. You're going to have to reroute them manually through three junction boxes to activate the primary cannon. Oh, but first, you need to activate the Atrium elevators from Bridge Security. You can use them to get to the junction boxes. Oh, by the way, Isaac. Be careful. I saw something out there. I don't know what it was; I only got a glimpse. But it was big. Really big._"

"Well, _that's _promising," Isaac quipped.

"Hey, I've got to pass on information when I can," Hammond teased as game-Isaac turned around without another word.

Over the next few minutes, Isaac directed himself back upstairs to the Main Atrium, where he followed the waypoint Bread Crumbs was showing him in order to activate the Atrium elevators. But first…

"The Level Three Suit!" Isaac announced, "I'm going to change into this first before I do anything else."

* * *

_**A few minutes later…**_

_Bam! Bam! Bam! _"What the hell is that?" Kendra whispered in a trembling voice.

"Something big," Isaac mumbled in response as he got closer to the door that was caving in in front of his character. The door continued to dent and cave in just as something burst through on the other side, initiating a quarantine.

"HOLY SHIT!" everyone screamed again at this new Necromorph: a large, ape-like creature with yellow pods on its arms and the back of its legs. When it roared, it forced everyone in the room to cover his or her ears.

"This is sick!" Nicole shouted as the Brute plowed towards game-Isaac, who began attempting to dismember it just like any other Necromorph. With another roar, it knocked game-Isaac back a few feet, inflicting damage in the process.

"This must have been what we heard back in chapter one," Kyne realized, and the others also realized he was right.

"It's moving too fast!" Hammond gasped, which gave Isaac the idea to use Stasis against it. While it was slowed down, he began shooting at the yellow pods on its arms with his Pulse Rifle as game-Hammond contacted him.

"_Your weapons can't punch through that thing's armor! Shoot it in the back, Isaac!_"

_Wham! _After recovering from Stasis, the Brute knocked game-Isaac back again, depleting more of the engineer's health until his RIG turned yellow.

"Thanks for the advice," Isaac thanked Hammond, "_After _I nearly get killed!"

"_Just shoot it, Isaac_!" everyone shouted at him, and picking up the controller again, he used more Stasis on the Brute to give himself enough time to run around to the back and take out its legs.

"Well, you were right, Hammond," Kendra mused, "I hope there aren't any more of these Necromorphs around here. They're giving me the creeps!" The Brute roared again, and Isaac quickly moved himself out of the way as he reloaded his Pulse Rifle and then switched to the Line Gun. Because the Brute had taken a lot of damage that way, it now curled up into a defensive ball, which gave Isaac his chance to take the beast down once and for all. After using up almost all of his Line Racks and shooting a few more times, the Brute finally died, leaving five thousand credits in its place.

"_Quarantine lifted," _a female voice announced as the doors all around game-Isaac unlocked in front of him.

"Hooray!" Nicole cheered, "You killed that Necromorph! Awesome!"

"Thank God." As he reloaded the Line Gun, game-Isaac continued on his way until a video log on the screens in front of him popped up.

"_Nicole?_" Hammond cried in shock.

"What am I doing on that monitor?" Nicole also asked as game-Nicole delivered a message to game-Isaac.

"_Isaac…make us whole again,_" she whispered before disappearing in static.

"_Make us whole again?_" Isaac quoted in confusion, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"And why am I being so cryptic?" Nicole inquired as she sighed and rested her head on Isaac's shoulder. She watched as he activated the Atrium Elevators, upgraded his Kinesis Module, Health, and a few of his other weapons, and then collected some items from the Xbox-like boxes on the floor.

"Yeah, Nicole," Kendra teased, "Stop being so cryptic." She quickly ducked out of the way of Nicole's hand.

"You're not funny," the blonde woman replied as Isaac entered the elevator, pressed the button to go down, and picked up the video log on the floor.

"Oh my God, it's Ben!" Kyne gasped.

"And you too, Terrence," Mercer added, and everyone quieted down to watch the video. On the small screen in front of Isaac, Matthius found himself in the clutches of two men on either side of him, and Kyne was standing in front of him with something in his hands.

"What's going on?" Kyne whispered worriedly.

"_This is mutiny!_" Matthius snapped, "_You'll all be tried for mutiny! Kyne, make them listen to reason!_"

"_Settle down, Ben,_" game-Kyne ordered, "_Hold him._" The other two men tightened their grips on the Captain's arms.

"This is _not _going to end well," Hammond predicted, and the others widened their eyes in nervous anticipation.

"_By Maritime Law Article 54-69, I hereby declare Captain Benjamin Matthius unfit for duty," _game-Kyne declared, and when the real Kyne and the others got a better look, they noticed that his game character was carrying a syringe in his hand.

"What the fuck is going on?" Isaac whispered.

"_The Marker…must be delivered to the church!_" Matthius pleaded, "_Terrence, please!_"

Game-Kyne turned away from him and caressed the syringe in his hands. "_I'm sorry, Ben,_" he apologized in a low voice, "_But I can't let you do this._"

"Terrence?" Kendra asked worriedly, glancing at the scientist, who had crouched down next to Isaac as he watched himself.

Matthius frowned as game-Kyne turned away from him. "_Traitor!" _he snapped, "_Heretic!_"

"_Hold his head," game-_Kyne said to the two men holding the Captain back.

"_MURDERER!" _

_"Hold him!" _What happened next left everyone thunderstruck, especially Kyne, who looked like he was ready to faint.

In the video, game-Kyne moved forward to tranquilize Matthius when the latter suddenly began to struggle. He wiggled his arms in an attempt to escape from the two men's clutches, and in the middle of the scuffle, game-Kyne ended up missing Matthius's neck and stabbed him in the eye instead.

"Oh my God!" everyone gasped, staring at Kyne, who was now as white as a ghost.

"Oh my God," he petitioned again as he chugged down liberal amounts of beer, "_I killed Matthius!_"

"Terrence," Nicole began, but she was interrupted when the video continued after Matthius slumped to the floor.

"_He's…he's dead!_" one of the men who had been restraining the Captain gasped.

Game-Kyne shook his head insistently. "_N-no,_" he stammered, "_It was an accident! I-I had to stop him!" _

_"Arrest the doctor!" _the other man ordered as the video log ended.

"Terrence?" Nicole asked, "Are you okay?"

Isaac, sensing that Kyne was upset over what he had just seen, paused the game and turned to face the Unitologist. "I can't believe it," Kyne was whispering to himself, "My game counterpart killed Ben! Why? I-I would never hurt him!"

Mercer silently pushed the list of complaints about _Dead Space _towards Kyne, who promptly wrote this incident down. "You didn't mean to, though," Hammond said in a reassuring voice, "It was just your game counterpart. They haven't been getting _any _of us right so far!"

But his attempt to cheer Kyne up proved to be futile. "I'm sorry, you guys," he apologized, "But I'm afraid I'll have to step out for the rest of this night. I can't watch anymore right now." And getting up, he exited through the front door.

The remaining five CEC employees just stared at each other in shock, unable to believe what they had just seen. "Maybe we should call it quits for the night," Isaac suggested, "This is going to take a while to sink in. And we have to find a way to cheer up Kyne." And with that, he saved his progress at the next Save Station and shut off the game.

* * *

_**The next day…**_

"Have any of you seen Terrence?" Kendra asked as she, Hammond, Isaac, Nicole, and Mercer all sat at a lunch table on their break in the CEC office.

"Not since last night," Mercer answered.

"Same goes for the rest of us," Hammond sighed, "God, I hope he's okay. He seemed really rattled over that video log."

"Hi!" a voice suddenly greeted out of nowhere, and everyone turned to see Jacob Temple standing behind them as he shook his head and laughed.

"Missing in action last night, too!" he exclaimed, "What have you guys been doing?"

"I told you already," Isaac replied, smirking, "And you didn't believe me."

"Hey, have you seen Dr. Kyne by any chance?" Nicole asked Temple.

"Yeah, I saw him," the engineer replied, "He looked really upset about something. Is everything all right with him?"

"I hope so," Isaac muttered.

Temple shrugged and then said, "Well, I've got to meet Elizabeth over in Hydroponics. See you around!" And with that, he was gone.

"Oh, here he comes," Nicole whispered, and everyone turned to see Kyne approaching them.

"Mr. Clarke," he began, facing Isaac, "I'm sorry about last night. I just didn't like seeing that the game portrayed me as a murderer."

"It's okay," Kendra spoke up before Isaac could, "It was a shock for us, too."

"Yeah, come back and watch the game with us tonight," Isaac suggested, "Once we beat it, we'll include last night's incident, too, and let Steve and Glen know how we feel about that."

"You can help us point out other inconsistencies with you as well," Hammond added, which brightened Kyne's face significantly.

"All right, then," he decided, "Count me in!"


	9. Chapter Four: Nostalgia: Or Not

All right! Here's the next chapter! Sorry it took so long to update, but a big thank you to everyone who has been reading, reviewing, alerting, and favoriting this story all the same! I hope you like what I've done with this chapter! :)

**DISCLAIMER: **Everything belongs to Visceral Games and EA.

* * *

"Are you going to be okay?" Isaac asked Kyne as he and the others took their usual seats and the game began to warm up.

"Yes, I'm sure," Kyne assured the engineer, "Do you have that list ready, Dr. Mercer? Just in case?"

"Got it right here!" Mercer announced, waving the piece of loose leaf paper in the air. The others had to gasp at how extensive the list had gotten. Writing this letter was going to be very interesting.

"What did I miss last night?" Kyne asked as Isaac finished loading his game.

"Nothing," Hammond reported, "We decided to stop after the video of Matthius."

Kyne sighed as Isaac took control of himself again and began to navigate his way through the next area.

"_It looks like some of the gravity plating is malfunctioning,_" game-Kendra suddenly reported to game-Isaac through an audio log, "_Keep an eye out for any kind of distortion effect coming from the floor. It could be dangerous._"

"Distortion effect?" Kendra asked, "Why don't I like the sound of that?"

"Literally or figuratively?" Nicole replied, "Because I hear a noise coming through the floor."

Everyone in the room quieted down as what Nicole said held true; a low, humming noise emitted from various glowing tiles on the floor, and Hammond couldn't help but break out into a grin.

"The floor is trying to sing to you, Isaac," he joked, "To get you motivated to do your job."

"Yeah, I feel really motivated right now," Isaac retorted sarcastically, "Your game character could have just as easily done this." Hammond winked in response.

"Holy crap!" Kendra suddenly cried, "What the hell was that?"

At the short sound of violins in the soundtrack, the group glanced up at the screen as something crawled through the hallways. Isaac carefully guided his game counterpart through this area and avoided all the glowing tiles. Suddenly, a Lurker rounded the corner, but before game-Isaac could shoot it, it stepped onto one of the humming plates and then shot up to the ceiling with a sick, crunching noise.

"Eww, that's sick!" Nicole squealed as she buried her face into Isaac's shoulder, "I've never seen anything this gory before!"

"You work in a hospital, though," Mercer pointed out, which earned him a mock-angry glare from Nicole.

"That's different," she pointed out, smirking, "I'm not watching baby Necromorphs get stuck to a ceiling."

"I can just see it now," Kendra teased, waving her hands dramatically, "So Nicole, how was your day? What'd you do at work?"

"Well, I fought off a few Necromorphs and watched one get stuck to the ceiling," Nicole answered, and everyone broke out into fits of laughter, even Kyne.

Meanwhile, another Necromorph appeared out of nowhere, but ultimately met the same fate as the other Lurker. "That's gonna hurt in the morning," Hammond commented, wincing.

"I bet that's worse than a really bad hangover," Kendra mused as game-Isaac sidestepped more of the distortions. He continued on his way until he arrived at a Stasis Recharge, where he quickly refilled his Stasis and continued on his way.

_Boom! Boom! Boom! _"That better not be what I think it is," Isaac grumbled, and as soon as he said that, the walls in front of his game character broke down and revealed another Brute.

"_Shit!_" everyone gasped as he or she jumped at the site.

"That Stasis Recharge should have been an indicator," Kyne mused as Isaac decided to use Stasis to slow down the Brute, making the fight so much easier than the first one. He still took a lot of damage, however.

"I should have used it for the first battle," Isaac concurred, "Guess I still suck at this game, huh? Imagine that; I'm horrible at a game that's about all of us!"

"Don't go beating yourself up, Isaac," Nicole whispered softly, "It's just a game, like Dr. Kyne said."

Isaac sighed as he finally managed to take this second Brute down, picking up the Power Node in its place and making his way over to some wires that were snapping back and forth and releasing electricity as well. "Yikes," Hammond gasped, "Careful, Isaac."

"Damn," Isaac cursed, "No Stasis. Better go back up and get some more."

"Hurry up, Isaac!" Kendra suddenly piped up, grinning from ear to ear, "So that we can boss you around even more." Isaac rolled his eyes, and then he quickly refilled his Stasis Module before slowing down the malfunctioning wire to gain access to the control panel in the corner.

"_Power transferred to the ADS,_" a voice announced.

"_Ship systems junction box rerouted," _game-Hammond announced to game-Isaac, "_I'm making some progress with the tracking grid. One of the cannons is giving me a hard time. Keep moving." _

"More work for me," Isaac said sarcastically as he reloaded his Pulse Rifle.

* * *

_**A little while later…**_

"_Isaac, listen up,_" game-Kendra began as Isaac directed himself into another elevator in order to go down to the first floor, "_I've gone through the med-sci reports._"

"Wow, you've been doing something productive," Isaac commented, facing Kendra.

"Of course!" she replied back happily, "I've got to have something to do in between arguing with Hammond and bossing you around!"

"Hey!" Hammond piped up, and Kendra stuck her tongue out at him.

"_These things are bio-recombinators,_" game-Kendra continued, "_They take dead tissue, absorb it, and mold it into new forms. One iteration seems to have to sole purpose of infection corpses. The others…well…seem to be making corpses to infect. And that body tissue we keep seeing on the walls is part of it, too. I found a report that says it's a habitat changer._"

"Thanks for the helpful information," Isaac mumbled, and Kendra smiled at him.

After saving, Isaac guided himself into the next hallway. "Oh, _shit!_" he, Mercer, and Nicole all gasped as an asteroid suddenly collided into the wall to game-Isaac's right, venting all the air into space.

"Damn, that was close," Hammond wheezed after coughing for a little bit, "Lucky you weren't standing right next to that thing."

"Yeah, lucky," Isaac echoed as he continued on his way after stopping at the Bench.

He made his way over to the next large room, which was filled to the brim with those same distortion effects. In the distance were some Necromorphs, and Isaac used the Pulse Rifle in order to take them out, but he soon became so immersed in dismembering the monsters that he didn't look where he was going.

"Isaac, watch out!" Nicole warned, but it was too late; game-Isaac stepped on one of the distortions and flew up to the ceiling with a sickening _thud_.

"OOOOO!" everyone in the room gasped. Isaac shut his eyes for a minute and looked away as blood splattered onto the screen, marking a Game Over for him.

"Damn it!" the engineer cursed as the _Ishimura's _logo appeared on the loading screen, "_How _did that happen?"

"You weren't looking," Mercer scolded, wagging a finger at him, "That's how."

"I can't believe it. That's the second time I've died in this game." Just as quickly, the checkpoint appeared, and Isaac re-killed the Necromorphs he had taken out before. This time, he checked Bread Crumbs every now and then to make sure he was going the right way, which he was, and he carefully tiptoed around all the distortions.

"That was disgusting," Kendra admitted, "Why do they have to make such gruesome deaths?"

"We've only seen two," Kyne pointed out, "The others might not be so bad."

"With _this _game, you never know," Hammond replied, drinking more of his beer and scooting closer to Kendra.

After clearing all the distortions, game-Isaac activated the control panel in the distance. "_Power transferred to the ADS._"

"_Control Systems junction box rerouted," _game-Hammond announced, "_I'm getting a reading! Almost there!_"

It took a few minutes, but somehow, Isaac managed to find his way out of the room again and back the way he came, and when he was in the elevator once more, he selected the third floor, wondering what would be up there.

"Make us whole again," a harsh voice suddenly whispered out of nowhere, and when Isaac made himself point the Plasma Cutter at the hallway ahead of him, he noticed a man hunched over and staring at him for a minute before disappearing.

"_What the fuck?_" everyone shrieked.

"Did that scare anyone else just now?" Hammond asked, and the others nodded, holding onto each other.

Once he was finished saving and taking out an Enhanced Slasher in the next large area, game-Isaac made his way over to the last control panel and pressed the button.

"_All right, we've got enough power. But the __ADS cannon's__ auto targeting is down. I think it's a faulty data cable. I need you to aim the cannon manually until I can replace it. Take the elevator to the top of the ship, and head for the cannon pit_," game-Hammond ordered.

Isaac was starting to get excited now. He wondered what would be in store for him at the cannon pit, even as he made himself take the elevator up to that level.

"_Isaac,_" game-Hammond announced, "_You're going to have to cross the ship's exterior to reach the ADS cannon. Problem is, we're still getting bombarded by asteroids. Look for cover or else you'll get torn to pieces." _

"Shit," Kyne whispered, "Don't get yourself killed, Mr. Clarke."

"I'll try not to," Isaac replied as he ran through the large doors and out into the vacuum of space.

"_Entering vacuum. Entering zero-gravity._"

Game-Isaac began to run to the closest metal barrier for cover.

"_Warning! Multiple impacts detected across the starboard hull!_"

"Something I've been thinking about," Mercer began as Isaac made himself wait for some asteroids to pass before refilling his oxygen and continuing on his way, "How can we still hear those announcements in a vacuum?"

"That's a good point," Hammond conceded, "Should we include that in the letter? Scientific inaccuracies?"

"That would just ruin the game play experience!" Kendra protested.

"Steve and Glen need to get their science straight," Mercer replied, writing down this little pet peeve on the already-long list, which was growing more and more the longer all of them played the game.

Isaac forced himself to hide in more spots as his character began to run out of air. He was wheezing really badly by the time he actually arrived at the cannon.

"Wow, a Ruby Semiconductor," the engineer announced as he picked it up and then gathered some more items before saving his progress, "If this were real life, these things wouldn't just be conveniently scattered around like this."

"You'd probably be _dead _at this point," Kendra said in response.

"But I'm not," Isaac joked, "Because they made me a silent badass."

"Don't get cocky, Mr. Clarke," Kyne teased.

"I won't," Isaac assured him, "Though when the hell am I going to start speaking?"

Nicole picked up the instruction manual again and looked in the credits at the voice cast. "I don't think you are," she reported, "I don't see a voice actor for your name."

"Someone had to be there to make me scream, though."

Nicole shrugged. "You got me."

Game-Isaac sat down in the cannon pit as the large windows opened in front of him. "_Manual override initiated,_" the female voice reported.

"All right!" Isaac cheered, "It's one of those old arcade shooters! This should be a piece of cake!"

"_That's it, Isaac, you're in the pit," _game-Hammond said,_ "The cannon's a mass driver, so it should punch through anything flying at us. Keep an eye on the hull's integrity. Too many of those things get by and we're dead. I think I've almost got the system repaired. Just buy me a little more time!_"

Suddenly, in the corner of the screen, some asteroids began sailing towards the cannon, and Isaac found he was having a tough time aiming to shoot them. His Hull Integrity, which had started at 85, had already decreased to 81 just as he began to shoot the asteroids. "Jesus Christ," he gasped, "This is much tougher than I remembered. Why are the controls lagging?"

"Just do your best, Isaac," Nicole said encouragingly, "You can do it!"

But Isaac was continuing to have problems with the controls, and his hull integrity was rapidly decreasing.

"_Warning: hull integrity below fifty percent._"

"_Just one more minute and it should be fully operational," _game-Hammond announced, and everyone groaned.

"Come on, Hammond!" Isaac grumbled, "Go faster than that! I'm below fifty percent here!"

"Sorry, Isaac," Hammond apologized, "I thought I was a little more efficient than that."

The cannon began to beep, since Isaac's hull integrity had now reached somewhere in the thirties and still decreasing with more asteroids. "Damn Xbox 360 controls," he muttered, "You're failing me."

"_I've almost got this thing fixed!_" game-Hammond shouted, "_Just a little bit longer!_"

"Hate to break it to you," the engineer mused, "But I don't have a lot of time left."

"_Warning: hull integrity critical._"

"Aww, shit," he cursed as he continued to fight the lag, and after a while, his hull integrity reached zero, causing the cannon to explode and kill game-Isaac.

* * *

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: **I thought I'd put this at the end now that the chapter's over. Just in case anyone felt otherwise, in no way was I trying to take digs at the XBox 360 (for all you XBox players out there). I know both the XBox and the PS3 have some difficult controls for this part of the game from what I've heard, but I was more going for the fact that a lot of people seem to die at the asteroid sequence. But this was not meant to offend any certain console. Thanks for reading!


	10. Chapter Four: New Friends

Woohoo! Here's the next chapter of "Playing the Game"! Sorry for the long delay in updating and this short chapter, but thank you as always for the reviews, favorites, and alerts! I haven't abandoned this story! Enjoy! :)

PS- I've added a new poll to my profile regarding which female lead you like better with Isaac: Ellie or Nicole. It should be up in a little bit!

**DISCLAIMER: **Everything belongs to Visceral Games and EA.

* * *

"Damn," Isaac hissed under his breath as the _Ishimura's _logo flashed across the loading screen, "That's the second time I've been killed in this chapter! Why is this happening to me?"

"Don't sweat it, Isaac," Hammond said in a calm voice as he stretched his arms over his head, "You'll get this. It just takes time."

"Yeah, but _how much _time?" the engineer responded.

"However much time you need," Kendra said, popping some chips into her mouth.

Once the game finished loading, Isaac picked up the controller again and mumbled, "Let's try this again, shall we?"

"_Manual override initiated." _

"_That's it, Isaac, you're in the pit," _game-Hammond said,_ "The cannon's a mass driver, so it should punch through anything flying at us. Keep an eye on the hull's integrity. Too many of those things get by and we're dead. I think I've almost got the system repaired. Just buy me a little more time!_"

"Yeah, yeah, we know already," Nicole teased, putting a smile on everyone's faces.

However, Isaac still found he was having problems with the controls, and no matter how much he tried to adjust to them, his Hull Integrity still decreased rapidly to the point where he ended up killing his game-character a few more times. "God damn it!" he cursed, slamming the controller down, "_Why _is this part screwing me over?"

"It's the controls," Kyne deduced, "They're awful in this section."

"Can I try this part next when the game loads, Isaac?" Nicole suddenly asked from next to Isaac, and everyone turned to face her.

"Maybe you'll have better luck than I do," the engineer said, handing her the controller, "Good luck." He and Nicole switched places as the game finished loading.

"Letting someone else control you, eh, Isaac?" Kendra teased.

"Oh, hush," Nicole joked as she quickly learned the controls from Isaac and made game-Isaac sit down in the chair.

"_Manual override initiated._"

"_That's it, Isaac, you're in the pit," _game-Hammond said for the third time,_ "The cannon's a mass driver, so it should punch through anything flying at us. Keep an eye on the hull's integrity. Too many of those things get by and we're dead. I think I've almost got the system repaired. Just buy me a little more time!_"

"Says Zach Hammond for the third time," Mercer joked, and Hammond rolled his eyes and laughed to himself.

"I can't help it," he replied, "Isaac keeps dying."

The group fell silent as Nicole attempted to pass the asteroid sequence, and to everyone's amazement including her own, she wasn't doing too bad despite the fact that she had never played this game before. Her Hull Integrity dropped to 79, but she was still holding on, even though the number continued to decrease.

"_Just one more minute and it should be fully operational,"_ game-Hammond repeated from last time.

"You still need to hurry up, though," Nicole chided in a playful tone.

"Very funny," Hammond muttered as Isaac's girlfriend continued to play.

"_Warning: hull integrity below fifty percent._"

"You were right, Isaac," Nicole gasped as she continued to take damage, "This is tough."

"You're still hanging in there, though," Kendra piped up, "Go, girl!" Nicole smirked to herself.

"It's not even that," the medical officer responded in a quiet voice.

"_I've almost got this thing fixed!_" game-Hammond shouted, "_Just a little bit longer!_"

"Come on, Nicole!" Isaac cheered in an encouraging voice, "You can do it! If it's not me, then it'll definitely be you!"

"I hope so," Nicole whispered.

"_Warning: hull integrity critical._"

"Come on," Kyne also whispered, leaning forward in his seat.

But after another minute, Nicole finally managed to clear the asteroid part. "_Automated tracking system initiated._" Everyone in the room cheered.

"You did it!" Kendra cried, hugging Nicole just after Isaac planted a quick kiss on her lips.

"How did you _do _that, Miss Brennan?" Kyne asked in a dumbfounded tone.

"I have no idea," Nicole answered.

"_Nice shooting, Isaac,_" Hammond complimented in agreement, "_Auto-targeting is now online and clearing a path to safe orbit. As soon as we're clear, I'll engage the autopilot again. Head to the tram station, and I'll meet you there when I'm done._"

"Whew," Isaac sighed as he wiped some sweat off his forehead.

"Here," Nicole quipped, handing the controls back to Isaac, "You take the controller again."

"You don't want to keep playing?" Isaac asked, surprised.

"Not really," Nicole answered, "I just wanted to test it out once."

"Well, looks like it paid off. Thanks for beating this part for us. We might not have made it otherwise." He saved the game before venturing out into the vacuum again.

Once was finished making himself get back to the other side of the ship, he began to retrace his steps as a video log popped up in front of him. "_Wait_!" game-Kendra cried, "_Isaac, Hammond...you're not gonna believe this. Oxygen levels are falling. Something's poisoning Hydroponics air production, and whatever it is, it's filling the deck up with that organic stuff. We're not going to have any air to breathe soon. But if I understand these lab reports correctly, I think I can make a poison to destroy it. Head to Medical. It should have everything you need_."

"_Will this never end?_" game-Hammond growled, "_Isaac, get to Medical and mix together whatever Kendra's come up with. I'm heading to Hydroponics. If I can slow it down, that might keep us breathing long enough to fight it._"

"That's right, you two!" Isaac cried, pointing to Kendra and Hammond, "Get to work!"

"Ha ha, very funny," Kendra teased as she stuck her tongue out at Isaac. He continued back the way he had come when a crunching noise suddenly made him stop.

"What the hell is that?" he whispered as he felt Nicole clutch his arm.

"I don't know," she replied in an equally quiet voice.

All of a sudden, game-Isaac screamed in pain as his health suddenly went down. "What the hell?" Isaac asked rhetorically.

_Screech_! "AHH!" game-Isaac screamed again.

"Damn it!" Hammond snarled, "What the hell is attacking you, Isaac?"

"Whatever it is, I can't see it," the engineer said as he continued to take damage, only to lose even more health despite healing himself.

"I just saw something in the corner of the screen," Kendra pointed out, "But it's gone."

And then, out of nowhere "A" suddenly appeared on game-Isaac's shoulders, revealing a skull with tentacles. "Whoa, what the hell?" Isaac gasped as he tried to fight it off.

"Get it off! Quickly!" Kendra shouted, but it was too late, for Isaac's health had depleted so much that the Component sliced his head off.

"_Shit!_" everyone cursed, but the assault did not end there.

"Wait a minute," Kyne whispered, "What's happening?"

"You mean there's _more_?" Isaac groaned. As his game character's RIG flat lined, everyone in the room watched as the Component slid its tentacles into game-Isaac's body through his neck.

"_WHAT THE FUCK?_" all six of them shrieked as the body stumbled a little bit and the knees shook. The head whipped around in all directions before facing them and snarling.

"_AHH!_" both Kendra and Nicole screamed, grabbing onto Hammond and Isaac respectively.

The head turned away before it used game-Isaac's hand to reorient itself, and with a low moan, it walked away as blood splattered across the screen.

"_OOOOOOO!_" they all cried as the _Ishimura's _logo flashed once again to reload the game.

"Holy shit!" Hammond cursed, "What the fuck was that?"

"Get back here with my body!" Isaac yelled, though it was no use.

"Stop dying, Isaac!" Kendra shouted, "Some of these deaths are too much!"

"I can't help it," Isaac responded, shrugging as the game set him at the last checkpoint, "Besides, it wouldn't be as fun if I didn't die a few times." He proceeded to take out the Components this time as he said all this. At that point, nothing else was happening, so Isaac directed himself back to the tram station. However, what happened next surprised everyone: the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it," Isaac decided, pausing the game for a minute to answer the door, and standing on the other side were the last two people Isaac and the others expected to see.

"Jacob!" he gasped, "And Elizabeth!"

"Hello, Isaac," Elizabeth greeted, smiling, "May we come in?"

"Sure!" Isaac cried, "What are you two doing here?"

"We got tired of the secrecy," Temple piped up, "So we decided to see for ourselves what was going on."

"Hey everyone!" Isaac yelled, turning to the others, "Jacob and Elizabeth are here!"

"What?" Kendra gasped, "They want to see the game, too?"

"That's what you're playing?" Elizabeth asked, "A game?"

"Not just any game," Kyne answered, "A game about all of us! Including you two!"

"Yeah, you two are somewhere in the game, too," Nicole reported, "Have a seat. It's always fun to have more people!"

However, just as Temple and Elizabeth were entering the room, Mercer glanced up from his complaint list and glared at Temple, and Isaac was the only one to catch this. _Hmm, _he thought just as he led himself to the tram and completed Chapter Four: Obliteration Imminent.


	11. Chapter Five: A Different You

Wow, thanks for all the reviews, favorites, and alerts, guys! You have no idea how happy that makes me feel! Thank you so much! I've been having so much fun with this story, so it's really rewarding for me. Anyway, here's the next chapter! Enjoy! :D

**DISCLAIMER: **Everything belongs to Visceral Games and EA.

* * *

"So, what's this game about?" Temple asked as he and Elizabeth took their seats on the other couch next to Kendra and Hammond, who were still on the floor.

"We're all trying to get off this creepy spaceship, the _USG Ishimura,_" Isaac explained as Chapter Five: Lethal Devotion began.

"There are these enemies called Necromorphs," Hammond added, "And the only way to kill them is by completely dismembering them. The infection started after this planet called Aegis 7 was cracked open and an artifact called the Marker was found."

"We're all in the game in various places," Kendra explained, pointing to everyone in the room, "Some of us have appeared already, while others were in video logs and audio logs."

"We're also making a complaint list," Nicole piped up, pointing to the list sitting in front of Mercer, "To let the game producers know how much they've gotten wrong about us."

"So where are we in the game?" Temple asked.

"We heard your voice in some audio logs back in Chapter Three: Course Correction," Kyne replied, "And that's another thing: the first letter of each chapter is trying to spell something. So far, all we have is NICOL."

"Nicole," Elizabeth whispered under her breath.

"That's right," Isaac said, "And right now, we're going back to the Medical Deck because we have to make a poison that will stop an infection on the Hydroponics Deck that's poisoning the air." Elizabeth paled; everyone knew all too well that she worked in the Hydroponics field of the CEC, so this little fact had an effect on her.

"This should be interesting," Temple muttered under his breath as game-Isaac got off the tram and received a video log from game-Kendra.

"_Shit_," she cursed, "_Isaac! I can smell the contaminated air from here! It's spreading faster than I expected! I'm trying to isolate it, but it's not going to buy us much time! We have to get that thing off this ship! The chemicals you need are in the Chemistry Lab. I'll hack the door when you get there_."

"And you're not saying anything about this?" Temple asked, and Isaac shrugged.

"I apparently don't talk or show emotion," the engineer replied as he guided himself through the door up ahead. Along the way, he noticed something strange: the path was lit with a bunch of candles.

"What the hell?" Hammond asked himself, "Who put all those candles there?"

"Beats me," Kendra whispered, scooting closer to Hammond.

Isaac silently guided himself back the way he had gone in chapter two, and when he opened the door, he caught sight of a silhouette of a dummy. "Jesus Christ!" he gasped, "That scared me for a minute." Nicole clutched his shoulder as he tiptoed forward.

All of a sudden, a voice appeared out of nowhere, and the strangest part was that it didn't sound like it was coming from an audio log. "_You can't stand in the way of God's plan!_" it whispered, "_The natural order! Are you…are you blind, like the rest?_"

Isaac put the controller down as everyone turned to face Mercer. "That sounded like you, Mercer," Hammond pointed out, "I was wondering when you would show up in person!"

"The game really made you sound like a creep right there," Kyne added, "I never know your voice could be so scary."

"Stop trying to scare me!" Isaac joked, and everyone laughed.

"I wasn't trying to scare you," Mercer said, "I was practicing my cliché villain voice."

"_Sure _you were," Kendra teased, and everyone laughed again.

"_Looks like someone has reprogrammed the door locks on this deck_," game-Kendra reported, "_And recently, too. I guess we're not alone here, after all. Someone doesn't want you in this part of the ship_."

"I think we've figured that out by now," Temple piped up, making Kendra smirk and smack him in the stomach.

"Very funny," she replied, "My game character tends to point out the obvious."

"Where's Hammond?" Elizabeth asked.

"I'm heading to Hydroponics," Hammond explained, and she nodded, closing her eyes for a minute.

According to Bread Crumbs, game-Isaac had to go through Imaging Diagnostics again, and so he did, noticing that the platform above him was now moving back and forth out of control. Explosive canisters were suddenly there as well, even though they weren't in chapter two. "Why are these here all of a sudden?" Kyne asked.

"I guess we'll find out," Isaac replied as he controlled himself to go back the way he had gone a few chapters ago, but something stopped him.

"AHHHHH!" a shrill voice cried, and when he glanced up, he saw a new type of Necromorph that was stuck to the wall and wailing as some of its tentacles appeared out of its stomach. Small pods shot out from its abdomen as well.

"What the _hell _is that?" Temple gasped.

"That's a Necromorph," Kendra replied, "But it must be a new type. We've never encountered this one before."

Isaac made himself whip out his Plasma Cutter, but as he began to shoot it, a larger, sharper tentacle appeared out of nowhere and decapitated his game character once he got too close. "AHHHHHH!" the Mature Guardian wailed again as the screen faded to black with blood.

"Oh, _shit!_" Isaac, Hammond, and Temple cursed at the same time as Elizabeth looked away quickly.

"Guess we know not to get too close to that one," Isaac muttered, "I honestly wasn't expecting that to happen."

The game loaded again, and Isaac decided to pick up one of the canisters this time as he hurled it at the Guardian, resulting in an instant kill. "All right!" everyone cheered, and following that, game-Isaac continued on his way, going up the elevator and killing every Necromorph in sight before using Stasis on the moving platform in front of him in order to get to the next save point.

"_You're close to the chemistry station," _game-Kendra announced, _"Once you get the chemicals, you're also going to need a DNA sample of the alien tissue. I'll search the records for one." _

"It's all over the ship!" Hammond cried, grinning wolfishly at Kendra, "Is that necessary?"

"Oh, you…" Kendra started, but didn't finish as Isaac saved and continued down to the chemistry lab. Once he was on the other side, the door locked behind him.

"Not good," Kyne whispered, bringing his hands up to his mouth. Everyone watched as game-Isaac went down the elevator and then picked up the audio log on the floor in front of him.

"_You can't hold me here!_" a voice in the background snapped as another voice eclipsed it.

"_Personal log, Dr. Challus Mercer,_" game-Mercer began, "_I now have a live subject in my study. I'm eager to validate my tissue regeneration theory._"

"Oh, _shit_!" everyone in the room cursed this time. On the couch next to Kyne, Mercer was in shock, his eyes as wide as saucers as the recording continued. He immediately reached for a pen, just in case this would be something he had to add to the complaint list.

"_Initial restraint was problematic, but now the patient is resting comfortably. He trusts me, Dr. Kyne. He puts his life in my hands! He knows his part in all of this. He understands what I'm doing!" _

"_No! Let me out of here, please!_"

"_The forehead has been swabbed clean and marked._"

"_What…what are you doing with that?_" Suddenly, the group heard a whirring sound in the background.

"Oh my God!" Kyne petitioned.

"_And now, I am attempting to create a passage to insert the sample tissue into…" _

_"No! NO! AHHHHHHHHH!" _With that, the recording ended, leaving everyone to stare at Mercer again.

"Mercer," Temple began, "Your game character has gone batshit crazy!"

"Complaint list!" Hammond cried, "Complaint list!"

"That's for sure," Mercer replied as he wrote this down, "_Dislikes being portrayed as a psychotic murderer_. I know how you feel now, Terrence."

"I'm sure your character thinks he has a good reason for doing so," Kyne piped up, "I mean, my character killed Matthius, for God's sake!"

"He did?" Elizabeth asked in shock.

"Stabbed him in the eye," Nicole explained.

Isaac continued on his way, opening the door to the actually Chemistry Lab and coming across two tanks containing sleeping Necromorphs.

"Aww, hell no!" he quipped, "Those are going to break out of those containers, aren't they?"

"I hope not," Kendra said, shuddering as she watched game-Isaac make his way around the room, collecting various items before going over to the mixer in the corner of the room.

"_Processing request. Please stand by._" Everyone waited.

"_Antigen compound completed. Please remove the capsule._" Isaac did so, and that was when the windows next to him opened to reveal none other than game-Mercer himself.

"Hey look, it's Mercer!" Hammond cried, pointing to the screen, "_In the flesh!_"

"MERCER!" everyone else shouted as the real Mercer became thunderstruck.

"_What are you doing?_" game-Mercer began, "_Your fight for survival is admirable, but pointless. And yet, you keep on going! It almost makes me think that we have hope as a species._"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Isaac muttered under his breath.

"_Am I the only one who sees that we have died out a long time ago? We just haven't accepted it yet._"

"Psycho alert," Temple whispered under his breath.

"_Stop running. Stop your struggle. Our future, your future, the future of our race ends here! Allow me to introduce you to humanity's child. The children that will replace us! Our greatest creation._"

"No comment," was all Mercer could say.

"Why exactly do you feel that way?" Kyne asked in a soothing voice, "You can talk to us. We won't tell anyone."

"I couldn't tell you," Mercer replied, "I guess Steve and Glen had to pick one of us to be the bad guy."

Suddenly, the Necromorph in the right container began to move around, and then, it broke out of its container. "Holy crap!" Isaac and Nicole gasped.

"Shoot it!" Elizabeth and Temple cried, "Shoot it!" Isaac did so, and one he was finished dismembering this Necromorph, it fell to the ground.

"Hooray!" everyone cheered.

"I can't believe I just tried to kill you!" Mercer gasped, but the joy didn't last for long. With another growl, this Necromorph suddenly began to _regenerate its limbs_.

"Wait a minute," Kendra quipped, "What's happening?"

"_You can't kill it, Isaac!_" game-Kendra shouted, "_It's just going to keep regenerating! Get out of there! Run!_"

"Wait…_what?_" Isaac gasped as the door next to game-Isaac unlocked.

"_Run, Isaac!_" everyone shouted, and Isaac quickly opened the door and directed himself through a shortcut back to Imaging Diagnostics as the Hunter continued to roar at the top of its lungs.

"Shit," Isaac cursed, "A Necromorph that I can't dismember? This is crazy!"

"Blame Mercer," Temple said, pointing to the Unitologist.

"No, blame my game self," Mercer replied, "I'm sorry I set an unkillable Necromorph on you, Isaac." Isaac continued to run as game-Hammond finally contacted him.

_"Is anyone there? Repeat! Come in Isaac... Kendra, is anyone there?" _

_"Hammond! Where the hell have you been?"_

_"I've reached Hydroponics. It's bad down here, really bad! ...can barely breathe! That organic matter is growing everywhere! My eyes are stinging... must be seeing things..." _

"Hang in there, Hammond!" Kendra cried, "You can't die on us now!"

"I'll try not to," Hammond assured her as Isaac finished off the last of the Swarms that had attacked him and returned to the main room on the Medical Deck. The whole time, the Hunter roared.

"Shut up!" Isaac shouted, "I know you're there!"

"_Now, you need to find a DNA sample of the growth,_" game-Kendra said, "_According to lab records, there's an inert sample stored in the ICU. A Dr. Mercer was apparently doing intensive research on it. I've been trying to contact Hammond, but all I'm getting is static! Isaac, you've got to hurry!" _

"Once I'm finished running for my life!" Isaac replied, facing Kendra as he saved at the Save Station.

"I can't believe the game creators ruined my character like this," Mercer commented, "What else am I going to do to you?"

Once Isaac was finished saving, he went through the large doors that led him to the Morgue last time, and on the other side, game-Mercer was waiting for him.

"_Your persistence surprises me,_" he commented as Mercer face-palmed himself in his seat, "_Holding onto your final breath, you claw your way along. You hold onto what was once your world, but now…it belongs to the children._"

"Damn, Mercer," Hammond whispered, "They turned you into one of those zealous preachers!"

"_Be glad of the knowledge that your death…will bring their birth._"

Suddenly, the Hunter roared again. "_Listen,_" game-Mercer finished in a low voice, "_Can you hear it? It's coming. Say your prayers._"

"_Ohhhhh!_" everyone cried as game-Mercer walked away.

"_Zing!_" Kendra added, pointing at the screen with her finger.

"I've lost my mind," Mercer mused.

The door next to Isaac unlocked, and once he entered the emergency room, the Hunter suddenly burst out of a vent next to him, and game-Isaac immediately took damage.

"Run!" Nicole cried, and Isaac ran to the other side of the room. Unfortunately, before he could heal, a few Lurkers that were also in the room inflicted damage on him, bringing his health down to yellow. The Hunter's roar got louder, and before game-Isaac could react, the Necromorph suddenly picked him up with its blade arms and lifted him into the air, stabbing him in the stomach a few times.

"Oh, no," Elizabeth muttered as the Hunter proceeded to slice off both of game-Isaac's legs and his right arm. In that moment, everyone watched in mute horror as game-Isaac shook his head and lifted his left hand, as if he were pleading with the Hunter, before the Necromorph decapitated him and completely dismembered his body.

"_HOLY SHIT!_" all eight of them cried, looking away.

"I think this game is trying to tell me how _not _to die," Isaac decided.

"There's no way this game can get anymore gruesome than that," Kyne said as the game reloaded back to the point just after game-Mercer abandoned game-Isaac. This time, Isaac proceeded to fight the Hunter, using Stasis to slow it down and shoot it before the door opened. He continued to run down the hallway, taking out the Guardian by the door leading to the labs and eventually finding the Save Point outside the Morgue. This time, Challus Mercer's office was unlocked while the Morgue was closed.

As soon as game-Isaac entered game-Mercer's office, some suspenseful music began to play. "What's with the scary music?" Hammond asked.

"So apparently, I like to keep severed heads in my office," Mercer said sarcastically, "Lovely."

"This is the craziest shit I've ever seen," Temple commented.

Isaac made himself collect all the items in the room as another audio log began to play. "_Personal log, Dr. Challus Mercer,_" game-Mercer began, "_The specimen continues to respond well to my experiments. Its cellular fortitude, not to mention elasticity, is remarkable. Dr. Kyne, I'm sure, would disapprove. But I do not anticipate that issue, as the good doctor is busying himself with the Marker. As if that matters now! He has also succumbed to the same dementia that afflicted the colony. Only yesterday, he told me he'd spoken to his wife…but Amelia Kyne has been dead for some years." _

"What?" Kyne gasped, "Amelia's dead in this game? NO! Don't tell me I killed her, too!"

"No, you didn't," Nicole assured him, and Kyne pouted as well.

Suddenly, something roared in the background. "_My subject grows restless. Patience. Your time is soon. Very soon._" The audio log ended.

"Damn," was all Temple could say, "You guys weren't kidding about this game!"

"Told you!" Kendra teased, wagging a finger at him as he swatted at her in response.

"Jesus, Mercer," Isaac whispered to himself, "Your game character is crazy!"

"I know, and I hate it," Mercer responded as game-Isaac began mixing the chemical compound.

"_Adding sample 9797 to chemical compound. Final mixing required. Please remove the capsule._" Isaac did so, watching as "Objective Complete" flashed in front of him.

"_That's it, Isaac!_" game-Kendra announced, "_Now you just need to-" _

However, game-Mercer suddenly interrupted her. "_This has gone far enough!_" he snapped, "_Accept your part in God's plan! Embrace your own extinction!_"

"Oh, Lord," Mercer groaned, "What am I about to do now?"

"_Warning: life support system failure in the Medical Deck. Please evacuate immediately!_"

"_Ooooohhhhhh!" _everyone gasped again as the entire deck turned into a vacuum.


	12. Chapter Five: Mercer's Evaluation

Thanks again for all the reviews! Here's the next chapter! I hope you like it! We're almost halfway finished with the first _Dead Space _game! :)

**DISCLAIMER: **Everything belongs to Visceral Games and EA.

* * *

As soon as the computer had announced that life support was failing, the hallways darkened and game-Isaac's air meter appeared on his back. "_Why _are you so hell bent on killing me, Mercer?" Isaac muttered to himself.

"I don't know," Mercer groaned, face-palming himself as game-Kendra continued.

"_Who the hell was that?_" she asked, "_Isaac, he's decompressed the entire deck and I'm being locked out of those systems! All the air has been vented into space! You should be able to bring it back online from the security station, but you don't have much time!_"

"You better go, then!" Hammond cried, and Isaac picked up the controller again as he went to refill on oxygen, but along the way, a few Swarms tried to kill him, but a mine from his Line Gun took care of them quickly. After refilling his air meter, he retraced his steps back to the Security Station, but a few friends greeted him along the way.

"Aww, crap!" Kendra cried, "It's Mercer's pet!"

"That is _not _my pet," Mercer piped up insistently.

"It is now," Isaac said as he came face to face with a few Pregnants.

"Remember: don't hit those in the stomach, Mr. Clarke," Kyne reminded him.

"I know," the engineer replied, "Thanks, Kyne." Kyne just sipped more of his drink and nodded, watching in anticipation as Isaac began dismembering all the Pregnants and Lurkers in sight. All of a sudden, game-Isaac began to wheeze, and his air meter had reduced to 20 seconds.

"Shit," he cursed to himself, "Better refill my air." He went into his inventory and picked a medium air can, which replenished his air much to his relief.

"That's so cool!" Temple suddenly piped up, "The enemies can't come into the same room as you! Why don't you just kill them from where you're standing?"

"That's a good point," Nicole replied, nodding at Temple. Mercer glared at the engineer, which made Isaac curious as to whether or not something happened between them to cause this hostility. That would have to wait, though. Right now, he had some enemies to kill.

After getting rid of the Pregnants, he moved on to the Hunter, whose yellow eyes were still glowing despite the dark atmosphere all around game-Isaac. Nobody could say a word as game-Isaac dismembered the Hunter and then used Stasis on him to buy some more time.

"_Someone keeps shutting down the door protocol," _game-Kendra announced, "_I've bypassed the lock. Go!_"

"For sure," Isaac said as he used more Stasis on the Hunter, refilled his oxygen, and then continued on his way back to Life Support, dodging a Lurker that had cornered him in the hallway in order to get back to the security station. Fortunately, he made it in time just as air returned to the room.

"Hooray!" everyone cheered, lifting his or her drinks in the air.

"Your game character has serious issues, Mercer," Kendra commented to the Unitologist, but he was already busy writing this down on the complaint list.

"_You've got everything you need to make the Poison,_" game-Kendra announced, "_Now get back to the Chemistry Lab!_"

"I thought _you _were taking care of this," Isaac groaned to Kendra, "Biochemistry isn't my field."

"You know that that equals you actually doing all the work," Kendra replied, smirking.

"_Whatever you're going to do, do it fast... Can hardly breathe in here..._" game-Hammond wheezed.

"_You're cutting out, Hammond! I'm going to try to switch over... Shit! I lost his signal! I'll continue scanning for his location! You have to get that compound mixed!_"

"I thought we established that I was in Hydroponics," Hammond commented.

"My game counterpart isn't the brightest with that sort of thing," Kendra said in response, and Isaac made sure to save before continuing back the way he came from before.

The group fell silent as he navigated his way through the same hallway from before, but suddenly, the door in front of him slammed shut. "Ahh, shit!" he cursed, jumping a little bit as Nicole clutched his shoulder, "Wasn't expecting that."

"_I've got more intel on the atmosphere,_" game-Kendra reported, _"A survivor's report says that a massive creature entered the Hydroponics deck from outside the ship. That's when the air quality began degrading. The survivors called it... the Leviathan." _

"Dun, dun, _dun_!" Kendra chanted again, making everyone burst out laughing.

"What exactly _is _the Leviathan?" Elizabeth asked.

"I guess we'll find out in the next chapter," Kyne deduced as Isaac reentered the Chemistry Lab.

"_Processing request. Please Standby. Final mixing complete. Please remove the capsule." _Isaac did so, completing this objective as well.

"_Let's hope that poison works!_" game-Kendra said to game-Isaac, "_Head back to the tram station and get up to Hydroponics as fast as you can! Still no response from Hammond, so be careful. There's no telling how contaminated that deck is!_"

"Probably completely contaminated by now," Hammond suggested, "My character could probably tell you that if he wasn't MIA all the time." Isaac shook his head and chuckled to himself.

As soon as game-Kendra disappeared, game-Mercer transmitted a message to him as well. "_I'm beginning to truly admire your spirit," _he complimented, "_Misplaced as it may be. I think…I think you should see the whole plan. You should not spurn the Hive Mind's offerings. You deserve to witness that, at least._"

"What the hell is the Hive Mind?" Isaac asked, facing Mercer until everyone else did the same.

"You're asking the wrong person," Mercer answered, "And I don't think the game could make me anymore out of character if it tried."

"Oh, I bet it could," Kyne said, "I just shudder to think what will happen to us in future chapters."

Game-Isaac moved ahead into the hallway up ahead, collecting more items before saving at the closest Save Station and moving on to another large room. A Stasis Recharge was in the corner, and a huge freezing chamber was situated in the middle, along with frozen Necromorphs in capsules on the sides. "God," Kendra whispered, "This is crazy!"

"_Perhaps now you will understand,_" game-Mercer began as he moved into view.

"_Oh my God!_" everyone groaned as Mercer just shook his head in embarrassment.

"You're so annoying in this game!" Temple commented, earning a glare from the real Mercer.

"_The work I have done must continue. Will continue!_" game-Mercer preached, "_I, Doctor Challus Mercer, shall serve as the catalyst to the salvation of our species!_"

"I think I've gone even more insane," Mercer commented.

"Really, _Dead Space_?" Hammond added, "_Really_?"

"Shh!" Nicole shushed both of them as game-Mercer continued.

"_These specimens will return to Earth with me. I will spread their divine glory across the entire planet! I'll leave you with my creation. Embrace the inevitable._" Smirking, game-Mercer walked away.

"You've got to be shitting me, Mercer!" Isaac groaned in a mock-irritated voice.

"You've gone off the deep end this time," Kendra mused.

_Bam! _A vent suddenly popped open in the corner of the room, revealing the Hunter again.

"Aww, _come on_!" Isaac moaned again, "Cut me some slack here! I'm only trying to repair the whole ship!"

"Sorry this game completely destroyed my personality," Mercer spoke up, which Isaac seemed to understand, even as he continued to fight the regenerating Necromorph in front of him. Suddenly, something shot at him from behind, causing game-Isaac to take some damage with a scream.

"All right, who just shot you?" Nicole piped up.

Isaac rotated the camera to see a Lurker crawling up on the wall and shooting projectiles at him. "_That's _what just shot me!" he growled as he quickly dismembered them and focused on the Hunter again.

He forced himself to run into the freezing chamber, and when the Hunter got close enough, Isaac used Stasis on him before running into the control room where game-Mercer had been. "_Freezing cycle activated,_" a voice announced as soon as he pressed a button on one of the control panels, "_Freezing cycle successful. Transporting patient._" Everyone watched as the chamber crystallized, and with a hiss, it successfully froze the Hunter and carried him away to another section of the _Ishimura._ A little bit of victory music began to play shortly after that.

"YAY!" everyone, including the real Mercer cheered.

"I'm apologizing on my game character's behalf," Mercer declared, holding up a hand.

"I guess that won't be the last we see of you, eh?" Isaac joked as Mercer shook his head and silently tapped the complaint list.

"_Let's just hope that's the last we see of that…that thing,_" game-Kendra quipped as she sent a transmission to game-Isaac, "_I've managed to override Mercer's lockdown. There's a secondary tram station nearby and you can take it to Hydroponics. Let's just hope there's enough time." _

_"_I'm Isaac Clarke," Isaac declared, "There will _always _be enough time." Nicole swatted him playfully.

"Oh, my little arrogant engineer," she teased as Isaac quickly kissed her on the cheek.

"Let's get to Hydroponics!" Hammond cheered, pumping his fist into the air, "Maybe we'll find out what happened to me."

And with that, Isaac headed towards the tram station and boarded the tram just as Chapter Five: Lethal Devotion ended.

"So," Kendra began, facing Temple and Elizabeth, "What do you think? Do you still not believe us?"

"No, I think we do," Elizabeth replied, "This is the weirdest game I've ever played."


	13. Chapter Six: The Greenhouse Effect

Yippee! Here's the next chapter of "Playing the Game"! I love how this story is going and I really appreciate all the support you guys have given. Really, thank you! I hope you enjoy this next chapter! :)

**DISCLAIMER: **Only Eddy is mine. Everything else belongs to Visceral Games and EA.

* * *

The first two things everyone noticed as Chapter Six: Environmental Hazard began were that one: game-Isaac hadn't received a transmission from either game-Kendra or game-Hammond, and two: Nicole's full first name was now spelled out.

"Well now we know this message is about me," Nicole commented, "But what else will it say?"

"I'll keep track of that, Miss Brennan," Kyne assured her as he used his own piece of paper and pen and write down all the chapter titles, "If it's something bad, I'll add it to Dr. Mercer's list."

"You mean novel," Mercer joked, holding up the now two pieces of paper that were being used for the list.

Isaac chuckled to himself. "This will probably be the last chapter I do for the night," he decided as he disembarked from the tram and arrived in Hydroponics.

"This is your place, Lizzie," Temple commented, kissing Elizabeth as she grinned at him.

The next minute, however, surprised everyone as game-Isaac picked up an audio log. "Elizabeth!" Hammond cried, as it was tradition for him to point out everyone in the game.

"_Hydroponics log... Elizabeth Cross reporting. I'm pleased to say that we're working close to maximum capacity at the present time. All flora is healthy and thriving and food yield has created a surplus. I was going to pass the surplus on to the colony, but the captain has given a no-fly order. I want to note my opposition to that order. Everyone knows they're in trouble down there, and I don't see what denying them our surplus will achieve_."

"Sheesh, Lizzie," Temple mused, "Defiant, much?"

"I still can't believe that was me," Elizabeth gasped, "That was actually me!"

"You get used to it over time," Kendra assured her, "The shock will wear off the more we hear from you."

"I hope so," the Hydroponics worker replied as game-Isaac continued to move on, collecting items and avoiding another Swarm.

"I hate these bastards," the real Isaac grumbled to himself as he hammered the "A" button to shake them off. He finished up in this area and then moved on to the elevator in the corner, taking it upstairs to the next level.

As soon as the doors opened, however, the sprinklers in the small greenhouse across from him suddenly turned on with a loud _whoosh_, scaring everyone in the room. "Holy shit!" Isaac gasped.

"_Watering cycle activated,_" a voice announced.

"Funny how we all just got scared from that and not Necromorphs," Kyne quipped, making everyone chuckle.

"It's the game," Hammond agreed, "It has the power to make even the strong-willed quake in their boots."

"That's deep, Hammond," Kendra complimented, "Real deep."

Isaac directed himself into the next hallway, where yet another surprised greeted his game-counterpart. "Hammond!" he gasped, and everyone looked up at the screen.

"Damn, Hammond," Temple whispered, "You look awful."

"I hate how I'm just slumped on the floor and not kicking ass," Hammond commented as game-Isaac approached him.

Suddenly, game-Hammond moaned and held a hand up to game-Isaac. "_Isaac,_" he whispered, "_It's good to see you in one piece._"

"Good to see you, too," Isaac commented to the real Hammond.

"_Don't…take…your helmet off_," game-Hammond wheezed, "_The air's rotten. I got a look at it. It's huge! You won't believe it…shut itself in food storage! The crew that's on this deck…I think they're what's poisoning the air! They've been transformed. I saw one of them, bloated, swollen. The poison factories…we need to take them out while we can still breathe_."

"Geesh," Hammond commented, "I hope I don't die on you guys now."

Suddenly, game-Kendra appeared on game-Hammond's suit through a video log. "_Hammond!_" she cried, "_I thought you were dead! You need to get cleaner air! You're not going to be able to help Isaac in your condition! Isaac, I'm scanning the area now. He's right. There's something really big in Food Storage, but I can't get a good scan! Monitor readings are off the scale. Be careful!_"

"I wonder if I'll make a guest appearance here," Elizabeth wondered out loud as game-Isaac continued on his way.

"I hope so," Temple replied, "Or at least hear your voice."

"_That's the door to Food Storage. But I can't override the integrity lockdown. You have to destroy the pods to bring the air quality up. Then you can go through and use the poison on the Leviathan_," game-Kendra reported.

"Once again, I have to do all the work," Isaac grumbled as he stopped at the Store quickly and then at the Save Point. He checked Bread Crumbs to see where he would be going next, and he saw that the trusty waypoint was directing him through to the West Grow Chamber.

"I guess you're going there first," Kyne commented as Isaac entered the passageway leading to the West Grow Chamber.

"_I suppose I should be glad Hammond's alive,_" game-Kendra told game-Isaac, "_But I still don't trust him. I think he's hiding something about the Marker." _

Everyone turned to face Kendra and Hammond. "Kendra?" Hammond asked playfully, "You got something you want to tell me?"

"Why does my game character hate you so much?" Kendra asked, "Hand over that list, Mercer. I'd like to add that as well."

"Be my guest," Mercer replied, pushing the pen and two pages of complaints towards the computer specialist.

"Let us know at any time if there's anything you two want to add," Kendra said to Elizabeth and Temple, "You're more than welcome to put your two cents in."

"Thanks, Kendra," Temple thanked her, and then they all turned their attention back to the game.

As soon as Isaac made himself open the door, he came face to face with some piped that were spitting out a toxic substance. "Watch out, Isaac!" Nicole cried.

"I'll be fine," Isaac assured her as he waited for all the pipes to stop before plowing through them. Along the way, he stopped in some of the side rooms to collect items and upgrade his weapons and RIG before moving on.

"Excellent game play, Mr. Clarke," Kyne complimented, "Excellent work!"

"Thanks, Kyne," Isaac replied once his character had finished dismembering a Slasher that was waiting for him at the top of the elevator. He reloaded his Plasma Cutter and then continued through to the greenhouse, where all sorts of plant life greeted him.

"It's so beautiful," Nicole whispered, "I can see why you love Hydroponics so much, Elizabeth. You know, all the plants that are still growing here despite all odds." Elizabeth blushed from where she was.

Suddenly, tense music began to play. "What the hell?" Isaac whispered as something suddenly flew at him out of nowhere and struck his game character by the arms.

"AHH!" game-Isaac screamed, forcing the others to scream as well.

"What the hell was that?" Kyne cried.

"One of those annoying baby Necromorphs," Isaac grumbled as he rotated the camera to see a Lurker crawling on the wall next to him. He quickly dismembered it with his Plasma Cutter before moving on.

"AMBUSH!" Hammond shouted as a dozen Necromorphs, Slashers and Lurkers mostly, appeared from every corner of the greenhouse.

"Go, Isaac!" Kendra cheered, "You can do it! You can take out all those enemies!"

"I hope so," the engineer replied as he continuously had to heal, reload his weapons, and collect more ammo and health packs. This was one of the worst ambushes he had become involved in since the quarantine on the Medical Deck back in Chapter Two. Necromorphs seemed to pour from _everywhere, _and he was surprised he didn't die at all.

Once they were all vanquished, game-Isaac healed himself just as he heard a distant wheezing. "Aww," everyone sighed.

"That's sad," Temple commented, "I wonder what's wheezing like that."

"Or who," Nicole corrected. Isaac entered one of the side greenhouses, and suddenly, the air meter on his game character's back began to count down as a strange, green substance entered the air. The wheezing increased in volume, and once he peeked around the corner, he spotted a Necromorph with bulges on its back as it knelt down on the ground and began exhaling into the air around game-Isaac.

"Ahh, so _you're _helping to poison the air," Kyne piped up as Isaac shot the bulbs a few times, killing the Wheezer and cleaning the air in the greenhouse. As soon as that was done, he exited the room, killing a Pregnant along the way, before entering Greenhouse B and taking out the Wheezer in there.

"Two down, six to go," Isaac mumbled to himself, "This is going to be a long chapter."

After that, game-Isaac returned to the main atrium, where he found a maintenance elevator in the middle of the room, and as he rode it up to the next level, a voice announced, "_Warning: toxics detected in Atmosphere Processing. A repair technician has been notified._"

"Repair technician meaning 'me'," Isaac joked, "This should be an interesting mission."

* * *

_**In other places…**_

The clock over the entrance to "Jerry's Videogame Store" now read 9:15 PM, and the cashier, Eddy, was just closing up shop when the door opened. _Who's this coming in at this hour? _He thought. He glanced up as two men made their way over to the front desk. "May I help you?" he asked politely.

"Yes," the man on the right, who bore a strange likeness to Isaac Clarke, replied, "We were wondering if that one copy of _Dead Space _was ever sold."

Eddy pushed his glasses up his nose as he nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah, it was," he confirmed, "A few days ago. Isaac Clarke himself purchased it!"

"Really?" the other man asked in pleasant surprise, "I _knew _he would find it, Glen! I told you!"

"Glen?" Eddy echoed in confusion, but the two men were gone again before he could continue to question them.

* * *

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: **I had to wait till the end of the chapter to put this up so that I wouldn't ruin the surprise. I was just wondering if someone could tell me if including non-fictional characters is allowed on fanfiction. Because I checked the guidelines and saw that stories with non-fictional characters aren't allowed. But does that apply to cameos as well? If someone could please answer this for me, I'd greatly appreciate it. Thanks again! :)


	14. Chapter Six: A Not So Green Thumb

Righto! I'm so sorry for the long wait in updating. I hit a little bit of writer's block for a while, but no worries! I haven't abandoned this story! It shall go on! :D Once again, a big thank you to everyone who's been reading, reviewing, favoriting, and alerting! You guys are awesome!

**DISCLAIMER: **Everything belongs to Visceral Games and EA.

* * *

Isaac was surprised to find that something he didn't think would scare him ended up making him jump out of his skin. "_Isaac,_" game-Nicole suddenly piped up out of nowhere in a video log, "_Make us whole again._"

"God, damn it," Isaac gasped once the adrenaline rushing through his veins began to wear off, "Sorry, Nicole. You scared me there for a minute."

"It's okay," his girlfriend replied, "What does 'Make Us Whole Again' even mean, anyway?"

"You got me," Isaac replied, watching as his air meter began to count down.

"Careful, Mr. Clarke," Kyne warned, "You won't be able to breathe soon."

"Not unless I kill another Wheezer," the engineer said in response as he found the Wheezer responsible for this and killed it, cleaning the air in the room once again.

_Boom! _Suddenly, out of nowhere, two Infectors popped out a vent, causing everyone in the room to jump. "Aww, shit!" Kendra cursed, "That's not supposed to be part of your workload, Isaac!"

"It is now!" Isaac quipped as he engaged his game-character in quick time events that would kill the Infectors instantly if he succeeded, which he did, thank God. Once that was over, he turned around and left the room, going through the door on the opposite end of the catwalk and saving at the closest Save Point.

_Uhhh! Nyah, nyah! _"What the fuck?" Hammond cursed under his breath.

"I see something yellow," Temple whispered as an unfamiliar Necromorph came into view.

"The hell?" Isaac also whispered, and when the Necromorph got close to him, he saw what it was all about.

"YAHHH!" the monster screeched, raising the bright, yellow pod that was on the end of its arm and slamming into game-Isaac, knocking him back a few feet.

"Did that Necromorph just kill itself, too?" Kyne asked in shock.

"Just exploded right in front of us," Elizabeth responded, "An Exploder!"

"If only all the Necromorphs could just explode like that," Isaac muttered, "To save me the effort."

"No way!" Kendra piped up, grinning, "That's your job!"

"Among other things." Nicole just frowned in sympathy.

"_Entering zero-gravity_," a voice announced in the next area, and for the next few minutes, Isaac silently made himself jump from point to point as he killed the floating Lurkers all around him.

"I wonder if I'm still slumped in that hallway," Hammond wondered out loud, "I can't believe the game made me so weak!"

"You know what to do," Mercer told him, handing him the list.

"Ahh, right," Hammond replied, "I almost forgot about that. Thanks for coming up with the idea in the first place."

Mercer smirked. "_Someone _had to do it."

"Well, thanks," Isaac thanked him.

Once he was finished in the zero-gravity area, he entered another room, where a _whoosh _greeted his game character out of nowhere. "_Warning: Air filtration system still active. Entering the filtration tubes is extremely hazardous."_

"Shit," the engineer cursed, "Look at that!"

"Knowing this game," Nicole replied, "You'll probably have to go through there."

"I better not die, either," Isaac joked as he picked up another audio log.

"Elizabeth!" Hammond cried, pointing at the screen.

"_Hello? Hello! Security! Thank god. This is Dr. Cross, in Hydroponics. I'm trying to locate Second Engineer Jacob Temple! I can't get through to Engineering! Of course I know there's a ship-wide medical alert! That's why I'm trying to locate him! No, we're safe for now. But the tram is down, and we can't reach the escape pods. Hello? Hello?_"

"Aww, you're looking for me?" Temple cooed as he hugged his girlfriend.

"Of course!" Elizabeth answered, "At least the game got that right!"

"You know what would be funny?" Hammond said to them, "If you two and Isaac ended up meeting up somewhere in the game."

"That would be _sick_!" Temple exclaimed, and Mercer gave him a look.

"Hey, Mercer," Isaac began as he made his game counterpart take the elevator down to the burning tubes, "Why don't you and Temple like each other? Is it because…?" _Nope, _he thought to himself, _I better not go there._

"I'd prefer not to talk about it," Mercer answered.

Temple kicked back in his seat and just shrugged, opting not to ruin the positive atmosphere with his opinions on Unitology and the people that believed in it. That was for another day. "You are _so _much like your game character," everyone heard Mercer whisper under his breath, but nobody commented on it. Isaac wouldn't admit it to the others, but the doctor was right: Jacob Temple's character was the only one who was even remotely anything like his real life self.

Getting through the burning tubes was no joke, and after taking quite a bit of damage, Isaac managed to keep himself alive, which was a miracle.

The familiar wheezing of the last Wheezer in the West Grow Chamber reached everyone's ears, and once game-Isaac finally killed it, everyone cheered. "Hooray!" they cried, lifting their drinks and snack bowls into the air.

"Thank God the West Grow Chamber is finally clean," Isaac sighed in relief.

"Yeah, but there's still the whole East Grow Chamber," Kyne pointed out, and everyone groaned.

"Way to ruin the good mood, Terrence," Hammond muttered to himself.

"Sorry, Mr. Hammond," Kyne apologized, "But wouldn't it be better to cheer after we've cleaned the whole deck?"

"I guess so."

* * *

"AHHHHHHHHH!"

"Aww, crap!" Isaac groaned as he opened the door leading to the East Grow Chamber to find a Mature Guardian at the end of the hallway, "I thought we were done with these instant-kill Necromorphs."

"Never," Nicole teased, "Just don't get too close to them. Remember?"

Isaac instantly had a flashback to watching his game character get decapitated back in chapter five. "Oh, I remember," he assured her.

After a few minutes, he finally managed to get rid of the Guardian and the pods that it was shooting out of its stomach, even though the battle ended up eating a lot of game-Isaac's ammo. "Sorry, guys," he apologized, "I have to go back to the Store."

"By all means," Kendra said, gesturing to the screen, "Take care of business."

Once he was finished at the Store, game-Isaac went to the Bench in one of the side rooms, where he upgraded his Pulse Rifle, Plasma Cutter, Line Gun, and Ripper that he had gotten a few chapters ago. "Time to keep going," he said to the others as he opened the next door.

"Whoa, _shit_!" everyone gasped as the Slasher standing on the other side grabbed game-Isaac in a quick time event.

"Damn," Isaac cursed, "I was _not _expecting that."

"Expect the unexpected, Mr. Clarke," Kyne advised sagely, holding up a finger.

Everyone turned to stare at him. "Do you always have to be so wise, Terrence?" Mercer joked.

"One of us has to be," Kyne answered, "And my character seems to fit the bill."

"Your character killed Matthius," Temple reminded him. Kyne didn't say anything, but he pouted slightly as everyone turned back to the television screen again. Now, game-Isaac was making his way up to the actual East Grow Chamber itself.

"_Vegetative anomalies detected in the East Grow Chamber._"

"Yeah, yeah, we know," Hammond teased, "Let's just get a move on."

But when game-Isaac entered the East Grow Chamber, he noticed that it looked very different from the West Grow Chamber. There was little to no plant life here, and Elizabeth couldn't find anything to say in response. Neither could Nicole.

_Boom! _"_Hazardous anomaly detected. Quarantine activated._"

"Oh, God," Isaac petitioned, "I hope that's not what I think it is."

_ROAR!_ "Oh, no it _is_!" Kendra cried, "A Brute!"

"Brute?" Temple and Elizabeth asked in confusion.

"Oh yeah, you guys never saw the Brutes before," Nicole remembered, "Here's one now. We fought two back in chapter four."

"God, that thing is _huge!_" Elizabeth gasped as the Brute roared and plowed towards game-Isaac, who quickly used Stasis in order to start shooting at its weak spots.

"Never thought we would see any of these again," Kendra mused as this time, Isaac took more damage than he had before.

"Don't die, Isaac!" Nicole shouted.

"I'll try not to!" Isaac replied as he soon found he had run out of Stasis and health packs.

"Then again…" Isaac added quietly as he was forced to watch the Brute grab his game character.

"Aww, hell no," Temple groaned, "What's happening?"

The Brute roared as game-Isaac attempted to crawl away from the hulking Necromorph, but the Brute was quicker. It used both hands to grab Isaac's game character on both ends, and with a few chomps, it bit his head off. "Aww, fuck!" Isaac cursed, but the torture did not end there.

The Brute roared again, using its strength to rip game-Isaac's body in half as if he were made of play dough. "HOLY SHIT!" everyone screamed, covering his or her eyes as the brute continued its assault until game-Isaac was completely dismembered. When that was over, the Brute cheered triumphantly as it gazed into the camera at the player.

"AHH!" Nicole cried, clinging onto Isaac, "Isaac, for the love of God, _please _don't ever get killed by a Brute again!"


	15. Chapter Six: Battle of Epic Proportions

All right! Next chapter of "Playing the Game" is here! Isaac and friends are about halfway done at this point. Only six more game chapters to go! Thanks again for all the reviews and support! This was one of my favorite chapters to write, and I hope you enjoy it! :)

**DISCLAIMER: **Everything belongs to Visceral Games and EA.

* * *

Once the game reloaded to right outside the East Grow Chamber, Isaac picked up the controller again and sighed. "Let's try this again, shall we?" he asked as he guided game-Isaac back into the room.

"_Hazardous anomaly detected. Quarantine activated._"

"Please don't get killed this time," Nicole pleaded as Isaac began to fight the Brute, running around the room and using all the space to his advantage. He conserved his ammo as much as he could as he used the Line Gun to shoot the yellow pods on the Brute's arms and legs. When the Necromorph curled up into a ball, Isaac used Stasis again to take it down just as it collapsed and dropped a Power Node in its place.

"Hooray!" everyone cheered.

"Thank God you didn't get killed again," Kendra commented, "That would have been brutal."

"I know," Isaac agreed, "The first time around was bad enough." He guided himself around the room as he collected more items from the boxes on the floor, and as he was doing that, more wheezing grabbed his attention.

The fifth Wheezer was in a rundown greenhouse close by, and Isaac took care of it before he found another one right near this one. He activated the Feeding System before using Stasis to take it out.

"Wow," Hammond whispered as game-Isaac rode the cargo lift in the corner up to the seventh Wheezer a few minutes later, "Looks like the East Atrium is going to be much easier than the West Atrium."

"Yeah," Elizabeth agreed, "We've found three of the four Wheezers in this part. Where's the last one?"

Game-Isaac rode the elevator back down to the second level and collected more items before picking up another audio log from game-Elizabeth.

"_Hydroponics log, Dr. Cross reporting. Something huge just slammed into the hull, near Food Storage. It wasn't a rogue asteroid, I know what that sounds like. But it was big, and heavy. I'll report again when I know more._"

"Uh oh," Temple whispered, "Hang in there, Lizzie."

"I'll try," Elizabeth replied. She fell silent as Isaac directed himself to a Power Node and the next Save Point leading to Refrigeration East.

"This hallway looks sketchy, Mr. Clarke," Kyne commented as game-Isaac went for the Gold Semiconductor across from him.

"That organic shit is disgusting," Temple commented as Isaac continued to move forward.

_Grrr! _"AHH!" everyone shouted as another Drag Tentacle not unlike the one from chapter three appeared and grabbed game-Isaac by the ankle.

"_What the fuck?_" Isaac gasped, "I thought I killed this thing!"

"This must be another one!" Kendra realized as Isaac made himself lift the Plasma Cutter in order to shoot the yellow pod. He knew what to do this time. That wasn't the issue. This Drag Tentacle encounter seemed much more difficult than the last one, and it wasn't letting go of game-Isaac.

"Damn it, Isaac!" Kendra cursed, "Shoot it!"

"I'm trying!" Isaac yelled back as he noticed he was getting closer to the hole of doom. However, something strange happened; the Drag Tentacle let go of game-Isaac.

"That's it?" Mercer asked in surprise as game-Isaac slowly tried to stand up again, "No violent death?"

"I guess not," the engineer responded, "Yay! I got off scot free and-"

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" everyone, including Isaac, screamed midsentence as the tentacle reappeared, grabbing Isaac's game counterpart by the head and dragging him headfirst into the hole. Blood splattered across the screen, marking another game over. The screaming from all eight CEC employees stopped as soon as the _Ishimura_'s logo appeared on the screen. They all took deep breaths to calm themselves down.

"Oh, shit," Elizabeth whispered, "Oh, shit."

"What the hell just happened?" Hammond demanded.

"This game nearly gave me a heart attack just now!" Nicole gasped, clutching her chest and trying to stop herself from shaking anymore.

Isaac sighed deeply before pounding the floor next to him. "_Damn you, _Steve and Glen," he cursed, "Do you enjoy scaring us like this?"

"They must," Kyne replied as game-Isaac reappeared across from the Gold Semi-Conductor. He used Kinesis to Pick it up and then switched to the Pulse Rifle. Just like before, the Drag Tentacle appeared, and this time, Isaac pumped the yellow pod full of lead every time the tentacle stopped dragging his game-character around. This was another close call, but this time, the Drag Tentacle let go of Isaac and retreated into the hole where it had come from.

"Oh, man," Isaac sighed, "I'm still shaking from before."

"I'm glad this isn't in real life," Kyne said gratefully as game-Isaac picked up another audio log.

"_This is Temple, Acting Chief Engineer_," game-Temple reported, "_I came down here to find Dr. Elizabeth Cross, but she's not here. In fact, I can't find anyone. Just more of this organic shit everywhere. I'm going to check the Mining Deck. It's about the only place I haven't looked yet._"

"JACOB!" everyone cried in a similar fashion to when game-Mercer had made his appearance.

"So I _am _in this game," Temple whispered to himself, "This is fucking crazy!"

"Sounds like you and Elizabeth might still be alive somewhere," Kyne pointed out.

"I hope so," Temple piped up in response, "We need some good news in this game."

* * *

_**A few Zero-G jumps, using Stasis on an electric generator, turning that off, and fighting some Lurkers later… **_

"_That's the last one, Isaac_," game-Kendra announced once game-Isaac finished taking out the last Wheezer, "_There's a switch in Atmosphere Control to restart the oxygen cycling. Once the air's clean, you can get into Food Storage. Isaac, I've been reading these reports...the crew all began having mass hallucinations. And...well, I just saw my brother on a security monitor. And that's just not possible..._"

"What?" Kendra gasped, "My brother? What does he have to do with all this?"

"I hope he's not dead, too," Kyne said in a hopeful tone of voice, "We don't need any more of our family members dead." Kendra just shook her head as Hammond wrapped his arm around her.

Once game-Isaac was back to where he first started, he began the recycling process until all the air was clean around him and the door to Food Storage was open. "Sorry I couldn't unlock that door for you, Isaac," Kendra apologized, smiling a little bit as she began to feel more like herself again. Everyone watched with eyes glued to the television screen as Isaac guided himself over to where the Leviathan was residing. Along the way, he picked up another audio log.

"_Isaac,_" game-Nicole whispered in a more desperate tone of voice, "_Where are you? Help me!_"

"Damn," Nicole cursed, "I'm sounding more and more desperate. Where am I?"

"Why won't you tell me where you are?" Isaac asked her, and the Senior Medical Officer just shrugged.

Finally, Isaac made it to his destination, and he inserted the capsule filled with the poison in the slot next to him. In front of him, green smoke began to spew from the tentacles that were covering the door to Food Storage, and with a screech, they shriveled up and died, clearing the path to the door. "Yay!" everyone cheered, but not for long.

"_Dammit_!" game-Kendra groaned, "_The poison wasn't strong enough...it's still alive! Get in there and kill it before it contaminates the entire ship!_"

And once she clicked offline, Hammond, Mercer, and Isaac all glanced at each other, grinned, and shouted, "BOSS BATTLE!"

* * *

"This isn't creepy at all," Isaac whispered moments later as he entered the Leviathan's lair.

"Wow, the first boss battle!" Nicole exclaimed, "I can't believe we made it this far already!"

"Me neither," Kendra concurred.

"_Entering zero-gravity._"

Isaac quickly used Kinesis to pull everything towards his game character before running in to start the battle. As he began, the Leviathan came to life in front of him and roared as another tentacle not unlike the Drag Tentacles emerged from its respective hole. With a loud _bang,_ it slammed to the ground and swept across the entire premises, inflicting damage on game-Isaac. "Look out!" Kendra cried, and Isaac fumbled as he picked up the controller and jumped out of the way a little too late. When the tentacle remained put, he forced his game-character to shoot at the yellow pod when it wasn't moving around. He repeated this two more times once that tentacle was dead and two more just like it appeared.

With a roar, the Leviathan began to get angrier as the room turned red. "Next stage?" Hammond asked.

"Looks like it," Isaac answered in response, "I've been doing pretty well so far."

That was when things started to go downhill fast. With a rumble, one organic bomb after another began to fly out of the Leviathan and towards game-Isaac, and no matter how much he tried to avoid them, he couldn't, and that was where he took a lot of damage.

"No!" Temple cried, "Don't die, Isaac! Don't die!"

Too late. Once another organic bomb flew out of the Leviathan's mouth, it slammed into game-Isaac, sending him flying into the air as blood appeared on the screen.

"Yikes," Nicole gasped, "That went well."

"Maybe the second time around, I'll do better," Isaac said hopefully, but the second time proved to be worse than the first time. He took so much damage by the time he got to the second stage that he was killed almost instantly.

"This is so fucking difficult!" Isaac groaned.

"If you could make it past the asteroid part, you can do anything," Hammond said encouragingly as game-Isaac began fighting the Leviathan for the third time. He was so good at the first stage by this point that he barely took any damage by the second stage. He was slowly learning the strategies for this boss that the second stage didn't seem so horrible after all. He learned to either pick up the organic bombs and hurl them back at the Leviathan or blow them up before they even left the hulking Necromorph.

"Better," Mercer complimented, nodding, "Much better."

"_Finally, _I'm back to being a badass!" Isaac cheered once he cleared the second stage and moved on to the third and final stage, which involved avoiding three tentacles and continuing with that he was doing in the second stage.

"Mr. Clarke," Kyne chided playfully, but Isaac only rolled his eyes and continued until the Leviathan was miraculously down at last.

"Hooray!" everyone cried.

"That was _awesome_!" Hammond and Kendra shouted, "What a badass boss fight!"

Game-Kendra seemed thrilled as well. _"Isaac!" _she cheered in happiness_, "You did it! Hammond, do you read? Oxygen levels are returning to normal. Damn it! He's gone again! No sign of his RIG anywhere! It's up to us now. I've got a plan to get off this ship! I've located an SOS beacon on the Mining Deck. If you can get down there and activate it, we might be able to send a distress call. Oh, God. I don't know how much longer that door can hold…" _

"Hopefully for a little bit longer," Elizabeth quipped as game-Isaac retraced his steps back to the tram station to go to the Mining Deck.

"Maybe this will be where we run into each other," Temple said, "That's where I'm apparently going."

"I hope we meet up," Isaac agreed as game-Isaac got on the tram, marking the end of Chapter Six: Environmental Hazard.

"So what do you all say?" Isaac asked as he saved his progress, "Same time tomorrow night for chapters seven and eight?"

"Hell yeah!" everyone else replied excitedly.

"I can't wait to see where this game goes next!" Kendra mused.


	16. Chapter Seven: The Path to Plot Twists

Hey everybody! I'm so sorry for not updating this sooner! I haven't forgotten about this story. I have every intention of finishing it before I move on to _Dead Space 2_. Thanks to everyone who has been reading, reviewing, favoriting, and alerting this story, as well as putting up with the long wait! On a brighter note, I see somebody finally added more names to the character list. Thank you to whoever did that! On another note, I won an XBox 360 a few weeks ago! :D Maybe now I can get both _Dead Space _games on that instead of the PC. With all this aside, here's the next chapter!

**DISCLAIMER: **Everything belongs to Visceral Games and EA.

* * *

_**The next day at the CEC…**_

_Knock knock knock! _

_Ugh, _Isaac thought to himself as he opened his eyes and proceeded to rub some sleep out of them. Wait. When had he fallen asleep?

"_Isaac!_" a voice cried from the other side of the closed door. _Damn. When did I fall asleep? _

"_ISAAC!_"

"I'm coming!" he yelled back as he stood up, stretched his arms over his head, and went to open the door. Kendra was standing on the other side.

"I never thought you'd leave your office," she laughed, "Have you been napping in there?"

Isaac quickly rubbed his eyes to hide the bags that were forming underneath them. He hadn't been able to get to sleep last night after finishing chapter 6. "Just a mini nap," he lied, "What's going on?"

"I just wanted to tell you…Temple and Elizabeth can't make it tonight. They said they have to stay here late."

_That's what she woke me up for? _Isaac thought. Normally, this wouldn't have bothered him, but he was still trying to wake himself up once again. Nevertheless, he was glad someone told him so that he wouldn't be worrying later. "Okay," he said, "Thanks, Kendra."

"No problem," the computer specialist replied cheerfully, taking off down the hallway once more as Isaac returned to his seat. _Too bad they're going to miss Chapters Seven and Eight, _he thought as he picked up some more blueprints for major shipping lines.

* * *

_**Later on that day…**_

"_This might be our last chance of getting out of here alive, Isaac," _game-Kendra said to game-Isaac through a video log as Chapter Seven: Into the Void began, "_There's an asteroid loaded up in the mining bay waiting to be smelted. If you attach the SOS beacon to it, you can launch it away from the ship to make a clean broadcast. The beacon's on the Maintenance sub-deck. You can launch the asteroid from the control room." _She glanced at something on her end of the transmission and suddenly frowned.

"_Damn,_" she cursed, "_The control room is locked. It looks like they keep an emergency access key on the Processing sub-deck. Couldn't be easy, could it? I don't know how much more of this I can take._"

"_You?_" Isaac asked incredulously as he began to move himself further into the Mining Deck, "What about _my _game character?" Everyone shared a chuckle at that. It was a little awkward without Temple and Elizabeth, but they would be back the next night, so it wasn't a big deal that they were absent now.

"If it weren't for the Necromorphs, this would be a regular day at the office for you," Hammond joked from next to Kendra.

"Where are you, anyway?" Nicole asked him.

"God only knows," Hammond mumbled, "I've been missing since Isaac ran into me in Hydroponics."

"I hope you're not dead," Mercer said to Hammond next, and everyone noticed that the Unitologist seemed much happier than when Temple and Elizabeth were around. Well, _Temple, _anyway.

"I'm Zach Hammond," Hammond replied, winking, "Of course I'm okay."

"Careful," Kyne joked, "You're starting to sound like Mr. Clarke now."

"Never," Hammond teased, and everyone watched as Isaac stopped at the Store and Bench in this next area. Once he was finished taking care of business, he saved at the Save Station and then approached the large elevator up ahead.

"What's that noise?" the engineer asked the others. It sounded like moaning.

The doors soon opened to reveal someone who had just lost his arm. "Aww, poor guy," Nicole whispered once he collapsed for good.

"_The mining sub deck is offline for some reason, Isaac," _game-Kendra announced, "_I'll see if I can run a bypass._"

"I'll be surprised if you can't," Isaac joked.

"I couldn't unlock the door to the Leviathan, either," Kendra reminded him, "So I won't be surprised."

After much deliberation, Isaac decided to direct himself to the Processing sub deck, but on the way there, his game character got the surprise of his life.

"AHH!" everyone screamed as a few Necromorphs leaped onto the elevator and began to attack game-Isaac.

"I was wondering if there was going to be an elevator ambush," Isaac said to the others as he proceeded to fight all the Necromorphs that were attacking him.

"There's always one in every game," Kyne said in response to that, and everyone agreed with him. Once the elevator ambush was over, game-Isaac arrived at the Processing Sub Deck. In front of him was an audio log, which he picked up in order to hear what it had to say.

"_This is Temple,_" game-Temple's voice poured from the speakers, "_I've found Elizabeth, but there isn't a single space worthy vessel in the whole God damn bay!_"

"Temple!" everyone shouted, "Wrong day for you and Lizzie to have to stay late at work."

"_Jacob, hurry up!_" game-Elizabeth shouted, "_We need to find a beacon!" _

_"There's got to be one around here somewhere." _The audio log ended there.

"If Temple can find Miss Cross," Kyne reasoned, "Then Miss Brennan shouldn't be too far away."

"Yeah, where am I?" Nicole agreed, "The only time you've seen me is through creepy messages. I hope I'm not dead."

"You're not dead," Isaac assured her, and the Senior Medical Officer fell silent as game-Isaac continued on his way.

* * *

_**A little while later…**_

_"Entering zero gravity._"

"_There's a failsafe on the processing control door_," game-Kendra explained to game-Isaac once he entered a room with boulders situated in different spots, "_It won't open until gravity is restored. But you can't turn on the gravity until those boulders are cleared from the room. Maybe you can dump them into that gravity beam with your Kinesis gun_."

"Maybe I can," Isaac echoed as he directed his game counterpart forward, "Though I could've figured it out for myself."

Kendra just shrugged. "Hey, I'm here to help and boss you around," she joked, "I've been doing that for seven chapters already."

While Isaac proceeded to take out more Necromorphs, as well as get rid of the four boulders in the room, both Kyne and Mercer were staring down at their pieces of paper: the secret message in the chapter titles and the complaint list, respectively. "What do you have so far, Terrence?" Mercer asked. He took the paper from Kyne and scanned the list:

_New Arrivals_

_Intensive Care_

_Course Correction_

_Obliteration Imminent_

_Lethal Devotion_

_Environmental Hazard_

_Into the Void _

"Nicole I," the Unitologist read out loud, "How much do you want to bet that the next letter is 'S'?"

"I wonder," Kyne mumbled, "May I see the complaint list?" Mercer obliged, and Kyne picked up the list and scanned through it.

"I do hope Steve and Glen don't take this too personally," he said worriedly.

"Ahh, they'll be fine," Hammond assured him, "It's not like we hate the game or anything."

"Who's going to write the actual letter, anyway?" Isaac asked from the floor just as he was moving on to the last boulder.

"I think Mercer should," Nicole suggested, "It was his idea to make the list in the first place."

"If you insist," Mercer answered.

"You've always been more professional with that sort of stuff, anyway," Kyne told him, and the research scientist just shrugged as game-Isaac finished clearing all the boulders.

"_All free floating anomalies destroyed. Gravity can now be restored._" Game-Isaac zero-g jumped to the control panel and reactivated the gravity.

"_Gravity restored. Access permitted to the control room._"

"Hooray!" everyone cheered, but Isaac soon found himself facing another Necromorph ambush.

"Where the hell do they keep coming from?" Nicole wondered.

"I don't know," Isaac retorted, "But a little help would be nice." He glanced at Hammond right after an Exploder exploded near game-Isaac, taking out half his health.

"If I'm even still alive," Hammond mumbled, "Nobody's heard from me."

"You may show up soon," Kyne said hopefully.

Once Isaac was finished taking care of all the Necromorphs, he went over to the control room and picked up the key that he was looking for.

"_That's the key, Isaac_," game-Kendra explained, "_It'll get you into the Control Room so you can launch the asteroid. Don't forget to attach the beacon first! I read another report on the colonist's dementia. It seemed to start after they removed the Marker from the planet. God knows how long it was down there._"

"Well, at least we're learning a little bit about the Marker now," Isaac said, "Dementia, huh?"

"What else do Steve and Glen have in mind with that?" Nicole asked in a quiet voice.

"I don't know," the systems engineer replied.

* * *

_**Another elevator ride down to the Maintenance Deck later…**_

_Boom! _"Ahh!" game-Isaac screamed as an organic bomb exploded next to him. During this small ambush, he had been trying to take out the Infectors in the area before they turned the other bodies around them into Enhanced Slashers, but he had taken damage in the process.

"See?" Kendra pointed out, "You said something, Isaac!"

Everyone chuckled. "Barely," Isaac responded as he picked up another shining audio log in the corner.

"Terrence!" Hammond shouted out loud as the audio log indeed turned out to be about Terrence Kyne.

"_Dr. Kyne!_" a voice shouted, "_What the hell are you…AHH!" _

_"Get back!_" game-Kyne warned, "_Come any closer and…and I'll shoot him. Give me the access codes to the cargo bay!_"

"What the hell?" Kyne questioned in shock, "I'm holding someone _hostage_? Hand over that complaint list again, Challus." Mercer pushed the paper towards him again, and he wrote down how he didn't like the fact that the game was portraying him as a raving lunatic.

"_You idiot!_" another voice snapped, "_This is Processing! Why the hell would I have codes to cargo?" _

_"Don't lie to me! I'm sick of everyone lying to me! It is imperative that I reach the Marker! Give me those codes!" _

"Holy shit, Kyne," Kendra whispered under her breath, "Your character's just as psychotic as Mercer's!"

"_I don't have them! Is this what you did to the captain? Go on! Shoot me if you've got the balls!_"

"Ooooooo!" everyone in the room cried as Kyne felt his cheeks flush.

"Burn," Kendra added, making a hissing noise.

"_IDIOTS!_" game-Kyne thundered, "_It's the only way to stop this! The only way to end this!" _

_"He's completely lost it! Somebody call security!_"

Nobody knew what to say once the audio log ended, only that Kyne was finished writing his complaint on Mercer's list. "I sincerely hope I do not come across like that in real life," Kyne quipped to his friends. However, he felt a little unsettled when the others didn't answer right away.

"Guys?" he asked nervously.

"You're not like that," Isaac assured him, "But…" He opted not to finish his sentence.

"You _can _get pretty intense sometimes," Hammond jumped in next, "Like whenever it comes to Unitology. No offense."

Kyne just shook his head and buried his face into his hands. "You know I'm not crazy," he groaned, "Not like in the game." Nobody said anything at first.

"I haven't been benefiting from this game at all," he added a few seconds later.

"I don't think any of us have," Nicole told him in an attempt to make him feel better.

"What else is my character going to do that's out of character?" Kyne wondered as game-Isaac saved at the next Save Station and continued onward.

"We'll have to wait and see," Isaac mumbled once he was on the lift and killing pods on either side of him. He quickly reloaded his Plasma Cutter before waiting for the lift to stop moving. However, once he was on the other side, the gate didn't open yet.

"The hell?" Hammond mumbled, and that was when everyone in the room got the surprise of his or her life.

"_Isaac? Is that really you?_"

Everyone watched as the camera rotated into a fixed position on none other than…

"_Nicole!_" all six of them shouted.


	17. Chapter Seven: The Wonders of Google

Next chapter is here! I managed to find some time between my finals to get another chapter of this out. Once again, thank you to everyone who's been supporting this story! :)

PS- It just occurred to me that I've been on fanfiction for a year now! :D Where did the time go? XD

**DISCLAIMER: **Everything belongs to Visceral Games and EA.

* * *

"No way!" Kendra cried after game-Nicole finally revealed herself in person.

"There I am!" Nicole cheered from next to her boyfriend, "_Finally!_" Isaac kissed her after she said this.

"Finally, some good news!" Kyne echoed. The rest of the men just grinned as they continued to watch the unfolding scene in front of them.

"_I feel like it's been so long!_" game-Nicole continued, "_But I can help you now! Come with me!_" And with that, she disappeared.

"I can't believe this!" Isaac cheered as well as he collected some items outside the room in front of him, "I _knew _you'd be alive!"

"At least you pulled through," Hammond added.

In fact, all six of them were so happy that Nicole's game counterpart was alive that they didn't notice how strange she was acting at first.

"_The beacon's in the storage room next to you,_" game-Nicole explained, pointing at the locked door in the corner, "_I think I can disable the lock from here. Hold on!_"

"How did you know I was looking for a beacon?" Isaac asked his girlfriend as game-Nicole bent over a control panel and began typing on it.

"You know," Nicole replied, "I don't know. That's strange, isn't it?"

"Maybe she overheard your transmissions with Kendra," Hammond suggested, shrugging, "And then tried to contact you about it."

"I like that idea," Kendra agreed, pointing at her best friend.

_Boom! _With a snarl, a Slasher suddenly popped out of a vent close to where game-Nicole was. "_Shit!_" Isaac cursed as he switched to his recently upgraded Pulse Rifle and dismembered the Necromorph.

"They better not hurt you," he growled. The real Nicole clutched his arm anxiously.

"So it's a protecting mission pretty much," Mercer realized, "Those are always tough."

"That's my girlfriend in trouble," Isaac replied, "I'll protect her!" And with that, the first Slasher collapsed, and game-Isaac used Kinesis to pick up the Pulse Rounds it had dropped.

That was not the end of the Necromorphs, however. As time went on, and game-Nicole continued to disable the lock, more Slashers appeared and began swiping at her. "No!" Isaac cried, "Looks like you've taken damage, Nicole." Nicole tightened her grip on his arm.

"Don't get me killed now," she warned in a low voice.

"I'll try not to," Isaac assured her. Everyone fell silent as the engineer continued with his mission of protecting game-Nicole.

However, everyone could see that the Necromorphs were continuing to attack Nicole's game counterpart, and Kendra began biting her nails in anticipation. "Damn it, Isaac," she hissed under her breath.

"Looks like her RIG is changing colors now," Kyne pointed out, though game-Nicole was too far away to tell for sure.

"Gee, thanks, Kyne," Isaac thanked him sarcastically.

It was about halfway into the battle where the screen suddenly faded to black, and two ominous words in red appeared in place of the game.

"Nicole Died," Isaac read out loud, "_What? _This is _bullshit!_" He threw down the controller as he said this.

Nobody else knew what to say to this, either. "You just let Nicole die," Hammond echoed unnecessarily.

Isaac just shook his head as the _Ishimura's _logo flashed onto the loading screen. "Jesus," he groaned, "I'm sorry, Nicole. Guess I can't even protect you in a videogame."

At first, the Senior Medical Officer didn't know what to say, but she could tell her boyfriend felt really bad. Nobody commented as the game reloaded just outside the room where the protecting mission took place.

"_The beacon's in the storage room next to you,_" game-Nicole explained again, "_I think I can disable the lock from here. Hold on!_"

"Please don't let me get Nicole killed again," Isaac prayed to nobody in particular as the wave of Necromorphs reappeared.

"You won't," Kendra assured him, "Don't feel bad, either. It's just a game."

"But if I can't protect her in a game," Isaac reasoned, "Can you imagine if something happened in real life?"

"Nothing will happen," Nicole added next, "And you're the greatest boyfriend I could have asked for. Trust me, you have nothing to worry about." Isaac just shook his head and continued to take out all the Slashers, making sure that none of them hit game-Nicole.

"See?" Nicole continued, "You're making up for before! I knew you'd be able to protect me!"

"I was _hoping _to do it the first time around," Isaac mumbled, "But I guess now will do." He watched as a few Lurkers now crawled on the walls near him, and he knew he was close to finishing. With a few more shots from his Pulse Rifle, he watched as the mission ended in success this time.

"I still can't believe I fucked up protecting you the first time," Isaac sighed, shaking his head and burying his face into his hands.

_"Okay, the door is unlocked, Isaac," _game-Nicole announced to game-Isaac_, "I can't get over to you, but I'll find a way. I love you. This will all be over soon." _

_"_I hope so," Kyne piped up, "I wonder how many chapters are left."

"It can't be too many," Mercer answered as game-Isaac entered the now unlocked storage room, collected a few items lying around, and then picked up the beacon. "Objective Complete" flashed in front of him as game-Kendra contacted him again.

_"Hey_. _I lost your signal for a while. You had me worried. I see you've got the beacon, so head for the mining bay and attach it to the asteroid. I've been running trajectory calculations and if we launch soon, there's a good chance the asteroid can reach a safe distance to begin transmitting! Still no sign of Hammond. In his state, I can't imagine he's still alive..._"

The real Kendra and Hammond glanced at each other. "Have you lost faith in me, Kendra?" he asked.

"Never," the computer specialist replied, tucking her knees into her chest, "You're Zach Hammond. And I doubt the game would just let you disappear like that without explanation."

"Just as long as we get out of this alive," Hammond quipped.

* * *

_**An elevator ride up to a previously inaccessible deck and a few Necromorph battles later…**_

With a hiss, the Store in front of game-Isaac opened as he climbed in so that he could finally change into the Level Four Suit. "After all this time, I finally get to upgrade my suit!" Isaac announced happily, having finally gotten over his guilt for not being able to protect game-Nicole the first time around.

"Nice," Kendra complimented, "Now you'll be able to withstand the Necromorph's attacks even more."

"Hopefully," the engineer said, heading over to the Bench that was situated in front of a battery that was giving power to an elevator nearby.

While Isaac was trying to decide whether or not to upgrade his Pulse Rifle of Plasma Cutter, everyone in the room suddenly spotted a claw in the corner of the screen. "Holy shit!" Kendra gasped, "Watch out, Isaac! There's something behind you!"

"What?" Isaac asked, "Oh, _shit_!" It turned out there was a Necromorph behind his game counterpart, which soon grabbed him and initiated a quick-time event.

"Get off me!" he snapped as he pressed the "A" button feverishly and got the Slasher to let go of him. He quickly dismembered it with the Plasma Cutter before returning to the Bench.

"I hope that doesn't happen again, Mr. Clarke," Kyne whispered.

"I doubt it," Isaac replied as he finished up, saved at the closest Save Station, and then removed the battery from the wall.

"Why do I have a feeling we're going to need this?" he questioned as he returned the way he had come in the first place with the battery.

"Gamer intuition," Hammond retorted in a wise voice, causing everyone to share a chuckle at that.

_Nyah! _Dropping the battery, Isaac made himself take out the Exploders that were up ahead before moving on.

"I wonder what we'll find down here," Nicole wondered out loud as the powered down elevator began working again. Game-Isaac proceeded to go downstairs, where a faint, creaking noise suddenly reached his ears.

"What the hell is that?" Mercer asked, breaking the short silence.

"Hopefully, nothing lethal," Kendra replied.

"Knowing this game," Hammond added, "It's probably something crazy."

Lo and behold, Hammond was right; as soon as Isaac refilled his Stasis and collected items from the crates outside the area, he went through the large, circular doors and got the surprise of his life.

"_Entering zero gravity._"

"Whoa!" all six CEC employees gasped as they took in the asteroid that was sitting in front of them. Two half-rings were rotating back and forth, hence the loud creaking noise they had heard before.

"What…the…hell?" Isaac mumbled, "_How_ do they expect me to attach the beacon onto _that_?"

"Yeah," Kyne agreed, "It's got death written all over it."

_Screech! _Suddenly, three Enhanced Leapers appeared out of nowhere to attack, but Isaac quickly disposed of them before moving on. "All right, let's see what we have to do here," he announced as he moved over to a screen right in front of the Asteroid of Death, as he had dubbed it at that point.

"Bread Crumbs must be broken," he said, "It's telling me I have to go on the Asteroid!"

"_Broken?_" Kendra echoed, "I doubt it. That's where you have to attach the beacon."

"With those rings in the way?" the systems engineer scoffed, "Fat chance."

"I think there's something else you have to do first," Nicole piped up, "You have to destroy four gravity tethers."

"I see two in here," Isaac said to her, but where are the other two?" Everyone fell silent as game-Isaac used the zero-G environment to his advantage. He hopped around the room as he destroyed the first two gravity tethers, but he was at a loss on where to find the other two.

"This seems to be one of the more difficult parts of the game," Kyne surmised.

"Damn straight," Hammond mumbled.

Isaac checked Bread Crumbs again, which was still pointing him towards the asteroid. "I guess I'll take my chance with fate," he joked as he waited for the rings to pass before zero-G jumping to the asteroid itself.

"Guess I'll plant the beacon now."

"Isaac, look out!" Kendra suddenly cried, for the ominous creaking had started again, but before Isaac could respond, the half rings swiped at his game counterpart, killing him instantly.

"Ooo!" everyone squealed as the screen faded to black.

"_Damn it_!" Isaac hissed, "Now what?"

* * *

_**Two hours later…**_

It had been two hours since Isaac had been killed by the rings on the asteroid for the first time, and even with the passing of time, the group wasn't faring much better. They still hadn't been able to find the other two gravity tethers, and Isaac had been forced to fight the Enhanced Leapers again, as well as destroy the two gravity tethers near him.

"I think we're truly stuck for the first time in this game, you guys," Isaac announced sullenly to the others as he put the controller down.

"What do we do now?" Hammond asked, "We can't go on unless we clear this part."

"Maybe Miss Brennan can play again?" Kyne suggested, but Nicole shook her head.

"I don't think I'd be able to clear this part in one shot," she said, declining.

"I think we'll have to do the unthinkable," Mercer decided, holding up a finger, "Something we should try not to do while playing games for the first time."

"What would that be?" Kendra asked, raising an eyebrow.

Mercer held off on answering in order to build up the suspense. "Challus?" Kyne questioned. The second scientist finally answered, and the answer he gave shocked everyone else.

"Look up a walkthrough."

* * *

_**Ten minutes later…**_

"Did you find it?" Isaac asked as Mercer sat in front of Isaac's desktop computer. He had just gone to Google and typed in "Dead Space Chapter 7 Walkthrough" into the search engine. What the Unitologist found shocked him.

"There's a whole website about us and the game!" he cried.

"_What?_" the others gasped, abandoning the game to crowd around Mercer.

"Dead Space Wiki," Isaac read, "What the hell?"

"Look, we all have pages!" Kendra cried.

"Probably chock full of spoilers," Mercer quipped as he scrolled down the main page, "Looks like yours was just recently updated, Terrence." He clicked on the link, which showed a picture of game-Kyne.

"This is crazy!" Nicole gasped.

"Who's Alissa Vincent?" Kyne asked, scratching his head as he glanced at his page, which gave his whole back story, "I've never heard of her."

"Maybe we should find the actual walkthrough," Hammond suggested, "We don't want to read any spoilers."

"Right," Mercer agreed, typing the same thing he had typed into the Google search engine.

"Wow, _two _versions of the walkthrough?" Isaac commented, "We have a choice?"

"Let's go with Version 2," Nicole suggested, and Mercer clicked on the link and scrolled down until he found the part they were stuck on.

"See?" Hammond piped up, "This person understands how tough that part is. They even said so themselves!"

Isaac narrowed his eyes. "According to the walkthrough," he began, "The last two gravity tethers are on the other side of the asteroid." He suddenly smacked his forehead.

"Of course!" he cried, "No wonder Bread Crumbs was pointing me there!"

"How would anybody be able to guess that the first time around?" Kyne asked incredulously.

"Somebody must have," Kendra answered, "Let's get back to the game. Like Hammond said, we shouldn't continue looking at this page." Mercer exited the internet and then set the computer to Sleep Mode, just in case they would need the walkthrough again.

"Can you believe it?" he asked as they took their seats again in the living room, "A website about our game?"

"Seems a lot of people know more about us than we do," Isaac joked as he resumed playing the game, "I'm almost tempted to look at everything on it."

"Once we beat the game, we can," Nicole reminded him, and after looking at the walkthrough, Isaac felt like he knew what to do. Before Mercer had discovered the Wiki page, he had been in the middle of destroying the two gravity tethers, which he finished up before jumping onto the asteroid and running to the other side, which was out in space. He proceeded to kill the few Lurkers that were in the area before finally planting the beacon.

"Hooray!" everyone cheered.

"I feel like we cheated in a way, though," Kyne sighed, "We had to look at a walkthrough."

"We had to," Mercer said to him, "We were stuck."

"And for two hours, too," Hammond added as game-Isaac zero-G jumped to the other two gravity tethers and destroyed them. Once he was finished with that, he returned to the inside of the Mining Deck unscathed and proceeded to return to the area with the Bench and the Store. This time, however, a surprise awaited him when he took the elevator back to the deck.

"It's hell!" Kendra shouted as parts of the room caught on fire right in front of game-Isaac.

"Very funny," Isaac mumbled as he took the battery out of the wall and carried it through the flames, taking a little bit of damage in the process.

Once the battery was restored to its original location, game-Isaac took it up to the next level, where Swarms greeted him. After taking care of them, he moved on to the door and used the mining access key to get inside.

"Finally, we made it!" Nicole cheered in relief as Isaac finished collecting all the loose items in the room and went to send the asteroid on its way.

"_Beacon's on its way!_" game-Kendra announced, "_All functions normal, and broadcasting wide band._ _Now we just have to hope somebody's listening. I'll position the array receiver. I thought I saw my brother again. He waved to me, like nothing was wrong." _She sighed wistfully and then returned to business.

"Don't tell me my brother's dead in this game," Kendra mumbled under her breath as Hammond put a comforting arm around her.

"_Okay, I should be able to leave this channel open…what? The Comms Array Receiver isn't responding! Isaac, can you get back to the Bridge? We need that array online or we can't receive signals from anyone responding to the beacon!_"

"Back to the Bridge we go," Isaac echoed just as the lights in the game flickered and another quarantine started.

"You've got to be shitting me!" Hammond gasped just as some Slashers and a Leaper or two attacked game-Isaac for the majority of the quarantine.

"These quarantines aren't exactly helping me, eh?" Isaac joked as he reloaded his Pulse Rifle and continued dismembering all the Necromorphs in the cramped room. Once that was finished, he made his way back to the tram station on the very top deck, stopping for a minute to deal with Components.

"Careful!" Kyne warned, "Remember what happened with these ones back in chapter four?"

Isaac shuddered as flashbacks to the Component death scene rushed back to him. "I'd rather not remember," he replied, "The first time around was bad enough."

Once the different Components were dead, game-Isaac quickly saved at the Save Station before finally returning to the tram station and heading for the Bridge once again.

"Chapter Seven: Into the Void: COMPLETED."


	18. Chapter Eight: A Not So Dull Welcome

All right! Here's the next chapter, which I consider to be a filler chapter. I decided to cut Isaac some slack in this chapter in order to prepare for some of the later chapters. Once again, thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter! We only have a couple of more levels to go in the game! :D Chapter Eight was short enough to fit into only one chapter, which was interesting.

**DISCLAIMER: **Everything belongs to Visceral Games and EA.

* * *

"This is the last chapter I'm going to do for the night, guys," Isaac announced as he saved after climbing onto the tram, "After being stuck on chapter seven for a long time." The others nodded, but Mercer suddenly grinned when everyone saw what the next chapter was titled.

"I _knew _it!" he cried, pointing at the screen, "Look at that! Chapter Eight: Search and Rescue!"

"You were right, Mercer," Hammond whispered as Kyne took note of this as well.

"Now, I have 'NICOLE IS'," Kyne informed the others, "Nicole is what?"

"I guess we'll find out," Nicole replied as game-Kendra appeared in a video log.

"_Things are looking up!_" she exclaimed, "_A military ship just shocked in! The USM Valor…I don't know what it was doing out there, but it must have gotten our distress signal. We can't talk to it until that Comms Array is fixed. I'm going to hack the door to Communications for you. Get in there and find the Comms Control Station." _She disappeared after that.

"Gee, not even so much as a good luck," Isaac mumbled, "Well, at least someone finally picked up our distress call. All that trouble we went through in the previous chapter wasn't in vain!"

"Of course not," Kendra mused, rocking back and forth slightly as game-Isaac retraced his steps to the Main Atrium. Along the way, the real Isaac hoped that nothing else would pop out at him from the broken window to his left.

What he heard, however, was far more disturbing. "_Isaac,_" a voice growled menacingly in a distorted manner. Isaac stopped for a minute.

"Did you guys just hear that?" he whispered.

"Sounded like something said your name," Nicole replied with a tremor.

Isaac just shook his head as he made a quick stop at the Store before moving onto the Main Atrium. "Here we go again with the Bridge," Hammond mused, "Where the hell am I?"

_Ring! _Not to anybody's surprise at this point, all the doors closed as yellow lights began flashing. "_Hazardous anomaly detected. Quarantine activated._"

"_Another _quarantine?" Kyne spat, "How many of those are there going to be?"

"A _lot_," Kendra answered him, nodding as game-Isaac proceeded to take on all the Exploders, Enhanced Slashers, and Enhanced Leapers that poured into the room.

"I think they want to make sure I've been upgrading my health and weapons, which I have been," Isaac commented once the quarantine lifted. He ran around the Atrium as he collected items from previously locked boxes, and once he was finished with that, he made his way over to the elevator from before. This time, however, Level One was no longer an option, so he was forced to go up to Level Three.

"Think that creepy zombie man is going to be there?" Mercer asked.

"I hope not," Kendra piped up, shuddering as she remembered the Zombie Man from Chapter Four.

"_Isaac, the door to Communications is now open, but I've been getting some weird feedback spikes on the local comms," _game-Kendra reported,_ "I think someone's listening in on us, so be careful._" She went offline after that.

"Hammond!" Nicole and Kyne shouted at the same time.

"Yeah, I wonder if it's me," Hammond added, "I hope so."

"We'll see," Isaac mumbled as he saved the game at the Save Station across from him and continued onward.

"AHHHHHH!"

"Oh, no!" the systems engineer groaned as he rounded the corner and spotted not one, but _two _Mature Guardians situated on either side of the door leading to Communications.

"Really?" Kendra groaned as she watched her friend take on both Guardians, as well as the pods they ejected from their stomachs.

"I guess they're called Guardians for a reason," Nicole said, "They always show up at crucial locations."

"I hate the way they scream," Isaac retorted, "It's disturbing."

"This is _Dead Space, _after all," Mercer pointed out, and Isaac nodded in agreement.

Once both Guardians were vanquished, Isaac collected the items they dropped before going back to save the game again.

"Ahh," a voice moaned once game-Isaac went through the doors up ahead. In front of him, a man was crawling on the floor as he took his last breath.

"Poor guy," Kyne muttered, and the others nodded solemnly.

Isaac was just moving himself forward when a howling noise stopped him. _Ooooohhhhhh! _

"What the fuck was that?" he whispered to the others as his hands began to shake. He felt his hairs stand on end from the creepy noise.

"Sounded like something out of _John Carpenter's The Thing_," Hammond also whispered as he scooted closer to Kendra.

"You've seen that movie, too?" Kyne asked him in surprise.

"A _long _time ago," Hammond explained, waving his hand.

Isaac gulped before picking the controller up again and tiptoeing forward. Nicole squeezed his shoulder as the awful howling noise increased in volume. _Ooooohhhhhh! _

Following that noise was the sound of feet sloshing on the ground, and Isaac made his game-counterpart raise his Plasma Cutter as this unfamiliar Necromorph suddenly came into view. "_Holy crap!_" everyone gasped.

"What the hell is that?" Kendra shrieked. This new Necromorph was tall and slender with a ripped up jacket to boot. With a screech, it began slowly walking towards game-Isaac.

"Oh, shit!" the real Isaac cursed as he began shooting at the Necromorph, and as soon as he turned to run, this beast began to run as well, going so far as to chase game-Isaac back into the previous hallway.

"Oh my God!" Nicole and Kendra both petitioned as they covered their mouths.

"I hate this Necromorph," Isaac grumbled as he finally got rid of the slender monster…only to see that it had split up into different Components.

"_What?_" he gasped, "You've got to be shitting me!"

"So that's what those Components must look like as a whole," Mercer realized, "Damn."

"You've got that right," Kyne whispered to him. They fell silent as Isaac finished taking out the Components and then moved on from there, saving at the next Save Station before continuing onto the lift in the corner of the room. At the top was an audio log, which he picked up to listen to as he climbed onto the tram in front of him.

"_Communications log, First Comms Operator Bailey reporting," _Bailey began,_ "The ship is under attack, but requests to issue a distress call have been repeatedly denied by Captain Mathius. He won't say it, but everyone on the bridge knows why-this is an illegal operation in a prohibited system. We've all known for months, and we kept our mouths shut. Not anymore._"

All six CEC employees just gasped and stared at each other as the audio log continued. _"Mayday, mayday, mayday! This is USG Ishimura, this is-what the hell? I don't believe this! The whole comms system is offline! Now he's gone too far... Bailey out._"

"No way!" Kendra cried, "Us? Illegal operations? Never. I didn't realize planet cracking was illegal."

"According to this game, we seem to be pretty shady," Isaac said to her, shrugging as she glanced at their other friends. They watched as the tram stopped on the other side, and game-Isaac disembarked from it as he got a look at the broken Comms Array.

"_That Comms Array is in bad shape," _game-Kendra said,_ "We need at least six working dishes for a strong enough signal. Make sure they're aligned symmetrically so there are no power gaps._"

"Here we go," Isaac sighed as he saved at the Save Station to his left.

* * *

_**Fixing the Comms Array later…**_

"_That's it, it's working!_" game-Kendra cried, "_Get back to Communications and use the control panel to send our coordinates to the Valor!_"

"Let's see what this _Valor _has to say," Isaac mumbled as he retraced his steps back to the main control panel, where he turned on the newly fixed Comms Array.

"Hooray!" everyone in the room cheered, holding up his or her drinks as beams of light shot out from all corners of the Comms Array and finally transmitted the _USM Valor's _message.

"_This is the USM Valor, widecasting on all frequencies to USG Ishimura in response to your SOS. We've picked up your escape pod number 47, and are en route to your position. This message will repeat every thirty seconds until you respond._"

"Good to know they're here to help us," Kendra mused.

Kyne, however, was looking worried. "What's wrong, Terrence?" Mercer asked.

"They picked up an escape pod from the _Ishimura_?" the scientist asked apprehensively.

Game-Kendra seemed to read his mind. "_What? Isn't that the escape pod Hammond jettisoned? One of those things was on board! No! No, this isn't going to happen!_"

"_Ooooooo!_" everyone in the room gasped as he or she remembered game-Hammond mentioning something about containing a Necromorph in an escape pod on the Bridge.

"Don't tell me the _Valor's _going to get attacked," Nicole said in a hushed voice.

"_USM Valor! Come in Valor! Our signal isn't strong enough. I'm going to open the blast doors to boost the signal._"

"_Error: blast door blockage detected. Please contact a repair technician._"

"_Shit! Isaac, there's something big on the hull of the ship, directly above the Comms Array. Something organic. I don't know what it is, and I don't care. We have to get the doors open to transmit to the Valor. You should have a clear shot from ADS Cannon 48. Get to the cannon and blow it out into space!" _

"Looks like it's another boss battle!" Isaac cried, glancing at Mercer and Hammond as he said this.

"And another cannon mission, too," Nicole added, "I hope this one won't be a pain like the asteroid one was."

Isaac smacked his forehead as he waited for his game-counterpart to get an opportunity to get off the fast-moving tram. "Shit," he cursed, "I didn't think of that! I hope the controls will behave this time!"

"If we get stuck," Kyne quipped, "Miss Brennan can play again."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," Isaac thanked him sarcastically yet again.

A few minutes later, he made it up to ADS Cannon 48, but before he began the battle, he put the controller and prayed again. "Please let me clear this part on the first try," he said out loud, "Now that I don't have to wait for Hammond to finish repairing a cable."

"Hey!" Hammond replied in a mock-annoyed tone.

"Sorry, Hammond," Isaac apologized as he grinned to himself.

"Good luck, Isaac," Kendra said, and the engineer gave her a thumbs-up as the battle began.

"_Manual override initiated._"

This time, game-Isaac's Hull Integrity began at 100 instead of 85, and the minute he began to fire, the Slug commenced its attacks as well.

"Wow," Isaac muttered, "This is so much easier than the asteroid part."

Despite the fact that this part was indeed easier, Isaac still found he was having a tough time with this boss. As he shot the yellow pods that were on the Slug's tentacles, the larger Necromorph picked up canisters and threw them towards the cannon, which lowered game-Isaac's Hull Integrity significantly.

"You can do it, Isaac!" Nicole cheered.

"_Warning: Hull Integrity below fifty percent._"

"Just like before," Isaac mumbled. Nobody else could say anything as the Slug slowly continued to meet its end as Isaac shot at the rest of the yellow pods.

"Is he going to beat it on his first try?" Hammond asked as he folded his hands together.

"Looks like it," Kendra replied, "Go, Isaac!"

"_Hull Integrity critical._"

"Damn it," the engineer hissed, "I haven't been checking on my Hull Integrity." At this point, it had decreased to thirty.

"But this boss is on its last leg," Nicole pointed out, pointing at the screen. This gave Isaac the confidence to finish this boss battle on the first try, and he breathed a sigh of relief when the Slug finally went down and floated away into space.

"Thank God!" he cried as the others cheered. However, their joy did not last long when game-Kendra appeared in a video log.

"_USM Valor__, this is Kendra Daniels of the __USG Ishimura__, come in! Do not open the escape pod! USM Valor, this is Kendra Daniels of the USG Ishimura, come in! Do not open the escape pod! Dammit, respond!_"

"Want to bet that they opened it?" Mercer asked in a quiet voice, and after Kendra sent her warning, the video feed switched over to a shot from inside the _Valor._ A few of the marines were standing around as a Slasher snuck up on them from behind. The atmosphere in the room changed as all six CEC employees covered their mouths in shock. The one Necromorph that had been jettisoned in the escape pod managed to wipe out the entire team of marines in the room.

"Hammond," Kyne gasped, "What did you _do_?"

"Don't blame me," Hammond replied, "Blame my game character."

"_Why did they open the pod, damn it?_" game-Kendra hissed as she closed her eyes for a minute.

"Hold on," Nicole suddenly spoke up, "What's that in the corner of the screen?"

Everyone glanced to where she was pointing and gasped. "That looks like the _Valor_!" Isaac cried.

"_Oh my god_," game-Kendra petitioned, "_It's headed right for us! Isaac! __Isaac! Get the fuck out of there!__ It's going to crash into the ship!_"

At that point, game-Isaac leaped up from the cannon, but the _Valor _then crashed into the _Ishimura _with a loud _bang_, which sent Isaac's game counterpart flying a few feet in the air before knocking him out for a while.

"Oh, wow," was all Kyne could say after that, "I hope you're all right, Mr. Clarke."

"Me too," Isaac assured him, "Believe me."

* * *

_**A few minutes later…**_

Once the white light cleared from the screen, the first thing everyone noticed was that game-Nicole's transmission was playing in front of game-Isaac as the latter finally woke up after the impact.

"_I wish I could just…talk to someone. It's all falling apart here! I can't-" _

Suddenly, that video log cut off and another one replaced it.

"_Isaac? Isaac, are you there?_" a familiar voice asked.

"_Hammond!_" everyone in the room exclaimed in happiness at the same time.

"I _knew _I was alive!" Hammond cried, "They haven't forgotten me after all."

"_Thank god you're all right!" _game-Hammond continued,_ "I've been trying to reach you! Someone's been blocking my RIG signal remotely. That crash must have interrupted the signal block._"

"_Hammond!_" game-Kendra gasped, "_Where have you been?_"

"Yeah," Kendra echoed, "Where _have _you been, Hammond?"

"Very funny," Hammond said, and Kendra just smiled as the former's game character explained himself.

"_Surviving, barely. I found some med supplies and patched myself up. Listen. I'm calling abort on the mission. __Fuck__ the C.E.C. and __fuck__ the chain of command. We have to get the hell out of here! I think I've located a shuttle on the Crew Deck. The flight log says it needs a new singularity core, but we can probably salvage one from the Valor. I can see the tail-end of it sticking out of the side of the Ishimura. I'm heading down there now to find a way inside. I'll meet you there. Hammond out._"

"Good luck going to the _Valor_," Isaac said to him as he put the controller down in order to relax his hands for a little bit.

"_Isaac, if what he says is true about the shuttle, then we might have a chance of getting out of here," _game-Kendra added,_ "Head to the cargo bay and see if you can help Hammond. In his condition, he may not last long._"

"There you go again," Hammond teased.

"You know I have faith in you," the computer specialist said in response.

"Time to get back to the tram station," Isaac announced, and in silence, he returned to the original tram after having to deal with another Divider that was lurking around the Main Atrium.

As Chapter Eight: Search and Rescue ended, Isaac turned to the others and asked, "Chapters nine and ten tomorrow night at the same time?"

"Yeah!" the others cried enthusiastically.

"I hope Jacob and Elizabeth can make it this time," Nicole hoped as Mercer scoffed from where he sat. The next two chapters were bound to be interesting.


	19. Chapter Nine: Twitchy Friends

All right! Next chapter of "Playing the Game" is here! Thanks again for all the reviews, favorites, and alerts! I really appreciate them! :)

**DISCLAIMER: **Everything belongs to Visceral Games and EA.

* * *

_**The next night…**_

Isaac was just setting up the Xbox 360 when he heard a knock on the door. "I'll get it!" he said to the others as he got up and went to see who it was.

"Jacob! Elizabeth!" he cried as he invited them inside, "We're glad you guys could make it again!"

"Sorry we missed last night," Temple apologized, "We had to stay late at work. Matthius wanted us to do some extra jobs around the office."

"You guys missed some crazy things last night!" Kendra cried, "For one, Nicole's alive in the game!"

"Really?" Elizabeth gasped, widening her eyes.

"I had to protect her," Isaac added, "And you two found each other." Temple and Elizabeth quickly hugged each other.

"There's also a Wikipedia site about us," Kyne explained, "It was Mercer who found it, since we had to use a walkthrough for one of the parts." Mercer just snorted from where he was sitting.

"Anyway," Hammond continued from there, "We're on our way to the _USM Valor, _a ship that picked up a distress signal we sent out in chapter seven. Unfortunately, all the marines got wiped out by a Necromorph from the escape pod my game character jettisoned from the ship, so Isaac and I are going down there to get their singularity core. We're going to use it in order to be able to use a shuttle I found."

"Good luck with that," Temple said encouragingly, giving both Isaac and Hammond a thumbs-up.

"Okay," Isaac sighed, "So we've got the complaint list, the paper for the secret message, snacks, drinks, and everyone here. Let's do this!"

"Hooray!" the others cheered as Chapter Nine: Dead on Arrival began. All eight of them watched as the tram pulled into the Cargo Bay, and as game-Isaac stepped off the tram, game-Hammond appeared.

"_Isaac? Good, you made it inside! Listen! I just found the munitions log for the Valor! I don't think their presence here is a coincidence! They're not on reconnaissance and they're not on patrol! This ship is prepped for war! They're on a seek and destroy mission! Do you hear me?_" The video log screen became filled with static before game-Hammond disappeared completely.

"Wait, why?" Elizabeth asked.

"Oh, yeah," Kendra answered, "Apparently, planet-cracking is illegal in this game."

"Oh," the Hydroponics worker said, closing her eyes and nodding.

"_Isaac, I've lost him again!_" game-Kendra shouted, "_No signal from Hammond's RIG... Find the singularity core and get the hell out of there!_"

"At least you're in on some of the action this time, Hammond," Isaac joked after making a quick stop at the Store.

"I was _always _in on the action," Hammond insisted, smirking as game-Isaac made his way outside.

"_Entering zero gravity._"

"Look at that," Kyne gasped, pointing at a few green orbs that were scattered all over the place.

"What is that?" Mercer asked out loud.

"_Isaac, one of the Valor's weapons ripped open in the crash,_" game-Kendra explained, "_Those green orbs you see are highly radioactive, and the Valor's airlock has sealed itself. You're going to have to throw those into space before you can get into the ship._"

"Oh, sure," Isaac muttered sarcastically to himself, "Let me poison myself from handling radioactive material." Nicole frowned in sympathy and patted his shoulder.

"You're not going to get sick," the Senior Medical Officer assured him.

Isaac sighed and made his game character zero-G jump down to the main hatch where a few fuses were lined up. "I guess this whole place is going to turn into a vacuum," the systems engineer realized, "I see an Oxygen Recharge Station."

Sure enough, as he was finished destroying all the fuses, he heard a _whoosh _as the hatch opened and the air vented into space. "_Entering vacuum,_" the usual, female voice announced.

"Let's do this!" Isaac cheered again as he jumped up to the closest green orb. Along the way, game-Isaac found himself being ambushed by both Leapers and Lurkers, which he decided to deal with before actually going onto the radioactive material. Using Kinesis, he grabbed the first orb and tossed it out into space.

"_Radioactive material removed,_" an unfamiliar male voice announced, making everyone jump.

"Whoa," Kendra gasped, "Wasn't expecting the voice change."

"Different ship, different voice," Hammond joked as the computer specialist laughed.

For the next five to ten minutes, game-Isaac jumped around the outside of the _Valor _as he tossed the radioactive material out into space. "_Radioactive material removed,_" the same male voice announced every time.

A few more Lurkers attacked along the way, but Isaac managed to clear this part on his first try. Just as the last green orb flew out into space, the _Valor's _airlock finally unsealed itself. "_Radiation hazard clear. Safety lock released._"

All eight CEC employees were so quiet that Isaac could have sworn he heard a pin drop, as well as their beating hearts. Taking a deep breath, he directed himself over to the _Valor _and went inside just as the air returned.

When he went through the second door, however, the same music that had played in game-Mercer's office played here. "Whoa, what the hell?" Kyne, Kendra, and Temple all shouted at the same time as something that was standing on the other end of the hallway ran away very quickly.

"What was that?" Isaac croaked.

"I don't think we want to know," Elizabeth whispered.

"We'll have to find out," the engineer replied as he picked up some items before moving on.

"Oh, crap!" Temple cried, pointing at a glowing spot on the floor, "Is that one of those distortions in the floor you were telling us about?"

"That's right," Isaac confirmed, "I forgot you guys didn't see that part of the chapter."

"_The part you're looking for will be in the engine room at the back of the ship!_" game-Kendra piped up,_ "I'm reading massive damage, so you may need to find an alternate route to get there._"

"Thanks for the tip," Isaac thanked her as he saved at the Save Station in front of him. Once he was finished with that, he proceeded to go to the next room, where a demolished escape pod, as well as blocks with Kinesis symbols were situated.

"That must be the escape pod you jettisoned, Hammond," Kendra whispered. In that moment, the same, fast creature from before glanced up at game-Isaac before sprinting away almost as fast as a cheetah.

"What the fuck is that thing?" Isaac growled.

"_The infection process is doing something strange to these soldiers_," game-Hammond reported in an audio log, "_They all had built-in Stasis units in their body armor. The infection is merging the Stasis unit into their flesh or something... making them move fast... real fast. Be careful_."

"So is that what we saw just now?" Nicole guessed.

"Maybe," Kyne whispered. Everyone leaned forward in anticipation as game-Isaac began moving the blocks in front of him around. Once he found a clearing, he rounded the corner…only to confront the fast Necromorph from before.

"Holy crap!" everyone gasped as the Twitcher darted towards game-Isaac, not giving him a lot of time to react.

"Oh my God!" Isaac petitioned as he made himself whip out the Line Gun in order to take it down, "Slow down, why don't you?" To his relief, the first Twitcher went down, but his relief didn't last for long.

"_Shit, shit, shit!_" he cursed as two more sprinted just as quickly. He could feel his heart beat as he took on these next two Twitchers as well.

"I haven't seen you get this scared in a while, Isaac," Kendra mused. Granted, everyone else was scared as well, but the others figured it was much more terrifying for whoever was actually playing the game.

"I hate these Necromorphs," Isaac decided once all the Twitchers were dead, "I hope to God these don't somehow get back to the _Ishimura._" Nobody else could say anything, for the fright factor of the _Valor _still hadn't worn off yet.

After game-Isaac killed another Twitcher that had popped out of a vent in the corner of the room, he continued onward into the Torpedo Room.

"_Isaac,_" game-Nicole began as she appeared on the screens up ahead, "_Make us whole again._" A skull flashed behind her face before she disappeared.

"What the hell?" Nicole gasped, "Why was there a skull behind my head?"

"How'd you know I was even on the _Valor?_" Isaac added.

"Good question," his girlfriend quipped, shuddering and shaking her head.

_Boom! _Another Twitcher popped out of a vent in the corner. "Not another one!" Temple groaned as Isaac dismembered it before moving on.

"I saw a book on the _Valor _in your character's office, Mercer," Kyne commented, facing the other Unitologist next to him, "Did you know them already?"

"I guess," Mercer answered, shrugging as game-Hammond contacted game-Isaac again.

"_Isaac, I'm tracking your position but it doesn't look like I can reach you. This damn ship was nearly sheared in half. I made it to the bridge... it's a mess here. These poor bastards didn't stand a chance. I'm going to override all door locks so you can get to the engine room. I'll try and catch up with you there._"

"Good," Hammond mumbled under his breath, "See, Isaac? I'm doing something productive."

"Now," Isaac said, smirking as he went through the double doors up ahead. He quickly saved before moving on once more.

"All right, Bread Crumbs," the engineer muttered to himself, "Where am I supposed to go next?"

Bread Crumbs pointed him towards the elevator, but as he was going to call it, the door suddenly broke down. "Aww, damn," Temple groaned, "That sucks."

"You're telling me," Isaac replied as a few Infectors suddenly entered the hallway. He ran around quickly as he tried to take them all out before any of the bodies turned into Necromorphs. He found his palms were sweating, and the controller felt loose in his hands once he finished killing all the Infectors. He used Kinesis to remove the defective battery from its place before replacing it with the other one on the other side of the hallway.

When game-Isaac began to ascend to the upper level, he got the surprise of his life. "Look!" Elizabeth cried, pointing at the screen as a video log appeared in front of Isaac's game counterpart.

"_Mr. Clarke,_" the familiar face began, "_I need to speak with you. My name is Terrence Kyne. Dr. Kyne." _

"KYNE!" everyone shouted, and the real Kyne widened his eyes in shock as his game character continued to speak to game-Isaac.

"_Listen to me,_" game-Kyne continued, "_There isn't much time. If you really can repair the shuttle, there is a better use for it than just running away." _

"So _you _were the one eavesdropping on us!" Isaac realized. Nicole gently shushed him as game-Kyne continued to explain himself.

"_You must understand. The forces at work here are…greater than you can imagine. If you leave now, you condemn all humanity! The planet will never stop, never rest, unless the Marker is returned! Don't you see? The Church is wrong! This is all a trap! I've seen it!_" His facial expression changed.

"_Please…you must help me._" With that, he disappeared, and Isaac paused the game as everyone faced the real Terrence Kyne.

"Oh my God," the scientist petitioned, "I can't believe I'm still alive!"

"You sound just as crazy as Mercer," Temple commented, earning a glare from Mercer.

"Yeah," Isaac quipped, smirking, "I'm going to _condemn all humanity_? Gee, no pressure there at all."

"I'm not sure if I should put this on Mercer's complaint list yet," Kyne mused, "I think I'll wait and see what else happens with my character."

"Well, at least all of us are alive," Kendra said gratefully, "I wonder if you and Kyne are going to meet up at some point, Isaac."

"If he keeps contacting me like this," Isaac responded, "Maybe."

And with that, he proceeded to direct himself further into the _Valor_ just as someone's cries of agony reached his ears, as well as the familiar moan from a Divider.


	20. Chapter Nine: Hammond

Well, here it is! The chapter I know a lot of people have been waiting for! I hope you enjoy it, and thanks again for the reviews! :D

**DISCLAIMER: **Everything belongs to Visceral Games and EA.

* * *

"You know what I was just thinking?" Temple asked as Isaac directed himself further into the _Valor, _"How did Hammond get in without having to clear that radioactive shit?"

"Good point," Isaac answered, "How'd you pull _that _one off, Hammond?"

"I'm Zach Hammond," Hammond answered, grinning proudly, "There has to be some obstacle for you, Isaac."

"There always is," Isaac mumbled after stopping at the Bench in the room. Prior to that, he had a Divider and some Exploders to contend with. Once those were gone, he was free to pick up the items around the room, including an Audio Log right near one of the distortions.

"_This is Commander Cadigan! We have hostiles on board! This is NOT a drill! Hostiles are alien, repeat, ALIEN and extremely dangerous! All personnel have weapons ready and fire at will!_"

"I can't believe my game character did that," Hammond mused as game-Isaac continued on his way.

"If you think about it," Kendra replied, "You stopped them from nuking us. They were probably just going to blow up the _Ishimura _without looking for survivors."

"True," Nicole said, nodding and then focusing on the screen again, "Hey, what's that?"

"What's what?" Kyne asked as the others leaned forward in their seats.

"Is that a shooting range?" Hammond gasped, his eyes lighting up in excitement.

"Looks like it," Isaac confirmed, "I've killed all the enemies in the area. Why not give it a go?"

"Yeah!" the others cheered, and Isaac pressed the "A" button in order to begin the challenge.

The shooting range was simple enough, and Isaac learned quickly which projections to shoot. "Red, not blue," he reminded himself as he plowed through level one.

"Think we'll get prizes?" Nicole asked.

"Hopefully," Isaac said in response, and once he completed level one, a few Pulse Rounds appeared in front of him.

"Hell yeah!" the engineer cheered, "I'm going to play a few more times!"

Sure enough, he moved onto levels two, three, four, and five, where he ended up winning some Plasma Energy, a Medium Med Pack, a Ruby Semiconductor, and a Power Node, respectively.

"Well, now," Isaac commented as he stretched his fingers, "That was pretty fun. Let's keep going."

Along the way, he ran into a marine whose leg had been cut off. He was sitting on the floor as he whimpered and clutched his leg in his hands. "Poor guy," Elizabeth whispered as the marine collapsed to the ground, and Isaac shrugged as he opened the door up ahead.

"Holy shit!" he gasped, "What the hell?"

"Laser beams of death!" Kendra shouted, "Don't get hit by those. Maybe that's what happened to the Marine."

Sure enough, a Twitcher popped out of the vent up ahead, and in its haste to attack game-Isaac, it ended up getting caught in the lasers and being completely dismembered. "Ooooooo!" everyone cried.

"Damn," Temple hissed.

* * *

_**A little while later…**_

"_Lockdown initiated,_" the same male voice from outside the _Valor _announced as the light shut off and alarms rang.

"Useless quarantines here, too, huh?" Mercer joked as a few Necromorphs began to converge on game-Isaac.

"Damn straight," the engineer replied. He spent most of the time taking out Exploders, Pregnants, Leapers, and Lurkers.

"No Twitchers?" Kyne asked with relief.

He had spoken too soon. Out of nowhere, a Twitcher appeared and dashed towards game-Isaac, whose health was flashing red.

"Aww, you jinxed it!" Temple groaned, face-palming himself.

Isaac was just getting ready to heal himself and then shoot the Twitcher when the latter cut his game-character's right hand off.

"Ouch!" Isaac gasped, double checking to make sure his hand was still there. Game-Isaac glanced down in shock as the Twitcher slashed him again with one of its talons.

"Oh, no," Elizabeth whispered to herself. At first, it looked like nothing happened, but then Isaac's game character leaned forward as his upper body slid down to the floor.

"_Damn_," Hammond said as the Twitcher continued to roar in triumph. It then began to shake in sporadic movements as it gazed into the camera with its hollow eyes.

"AHHHHH!" all eight CEC employees screamed as the Twitcher lingered where it was for another few seconds before taking off.

"Oh, shit," Isaac gasped, "We haven't had a death like that in a while."

"Let's not have another one," Hammond joked as the game reloaded back to the beginning of the lockdown. This time, Isaac was ready, and he managed to clear this part much more quickly than anticipated.

"_Lockdown lifted._"

"Don't worry, Steve and Glen," Isaac muttered to himself, "I've been upgrading my RIG and weapons."

"Look, a text log," Kyne pointed out, and game-Isaac picked it up after a brief visit to the Store nearby.

"_EYES ONLY - PRIORITY BLACK _

_FROM: CHIEF OF STAFF, EARTH DEFENSE _

_ATTN: COMMANDER CADIGAN, F. _

_OPERATION WHITE LIGHT _

_THEATER: AEGIS SYSTEM, PLANET PENDING _

_OBJECTIVE: DEEP CLEANSE _

_CEC vessel_ _USG Ishimura_ _in breach of government order. They are believed to have recovered Marker 3A. Special Ops has confirmed the system but has been unable to provide the planet location. Special Ops advises caution. If Marker 3A has been recovered, infection by a lethal organism is a credible threat. Shockpoint to Aegis system, move to position out of local scope range and await signal from_ Ishimura _to confirm location_."

"I'm putting this on the complaint list," Elizabeth decided as Mercer silently handed over the paper and pen to her, "Our corporation doesn't do anything illegal. We don't want EarthGov investigating us."

"I didn't think of that in the last chapter," Isaac mused, "Good point."

"Thank you," the Hydroponics worker thanked him as she began to write.

"Why is this Marker called 'Marker 3A', though?" Kendra wondered as she scratched her head.

"We might find out soon," Nicole answered, shrugging as game-Isaac continued to move. He saved at the Save Station in front of him before hearing the same cries of agony from before. When he finally looked up, he saw who it was.

"_Damn,_" everyone repeated as he or she spotted a marine that was stuck to the ceiling after more than likely stepping on one of the distortions.

"I feel sorry for him," Kyne decided, "Let's put him out of his misery."

"You're right," Isaac agreed, and he raised his Plasma Cutter in order to do so…only for game-Isaac to lower his weapon.

"What the fuck?" the engineer growled, "Let me try that again." He raised the weapon again, only for his game character to lower it again.

"This makes me look like an asshole again," Isaac said, "Can I put that on the list, Mercer?"

"By all means," the Unitologist replied, taking the pen and papers from Elizabeth and handing them over to Isaac. Once he was finished writing that down, he continued to heard towards the engine room, where the first thing he noticed was a marine running away in the distance.

"Hey!" he shouted to the screen, "Come back!" No response. The door closed and locked behind him.

"What's that noise?" Kendra whispered. It sounded like flames shooting out from somewhere. Game-Isaac checked Bread Crumbs, which directed him to a cargo lift in front of him. When he took it up to the top level, what he saw shocked him.

"_Whoa!_" everyone gasped as large barrels with Kinesis symbols on them greeted Isaac's game counterpart. Beyond those were flames that were shooting out of every corner of the room.

"How am I supposed to get past this?" the engineer wondered as he stared at the scene in front of him.

"I guess you have to use those barrels," Temple said, pointing at them.

"Let's get this over with," Isaac sighed as he moved forward.

* * *

_**A few minutes later…**_

"_AHH!_" game-Isaac screamed as he attempted to shake off some flames that had caught onto his suit.

"Aww, crap," Isaac groaned, "This part is going to be annoying."

"You can do it," Nicole cheered her boyfriend on as he continued to use Kinesis on the barrels to protect himself. For the next several minutes, nobody could think of anything to say as Isaac moved forward and shot the fuses next to him. The more fuses he destroyed, the less flames he encountered, and by the time he was finished clearing this part, the singularity core greeted him up ahead.

"What did I tell you?" the Senior Medical Officer asked triumphantly as game-Isaac picked up the singularity core. As soon as he did that, the engines started to fail.

"_Engine power failure._"

"_That's it?_" game-Kendra cried happily, "_You got it? Oh my God, you got it! That's the piece we need! Get to the Crew Deck!_"

"Hooray!" everyone cheered just as the _Valor _began to shake all around game-Isaac.

"Now we have a chance to survive," Hammond said in a cheerful voice. Everyone watched as Isaac continued to make himself run until a glass wall blocked his path. Suddenly, from far away, a Brute roared loudly as game-Hammond stumbled into the scene on the other side of the glass.

"Hammond!" the others cried.

"_Isaac! Over here!_" game-Hammond yelled, and game-Isaac ran over to him.

"_I've been trying to reach you, but my comm was out! You've got the singularity core! That's our ticket out of here! Get that core to the shuttle! Don't wait for me!_"

"Oh, Hammond," Kendra sighed, smiling, "You're so brave!"

"Oh, shit!" Temple cursed as an Enhanced Brute plowed into the room.

"_Oh, fuck me!_" game-Hammond groaned, "_AHHHHH!_" He raised his Pulse Rifle and began shooting at the hulking Necromorph, but the Brute was quicker. It swiped at game-Hammond and knocked him to the ground, cracking the glass a little bit.

"Oh, no," Mercer said with dread, "What's happening?"

The Brute roared, grabbed Hammond's game character with one hand while it placed the other on his leg. "Oh, _fuck _no!" Hammond thundered.

"OH MY GOD!" the others exclaimed, "NO!"

"HAMMOND!" Kendra shrieked once she and the others realized exactly what was going to happen.

"I can't watch," Nicole moaned, burying her face into Isaac's side as the Enhanced Brute used its strength to rip one of game-Hammond's legs off.

"NO!" Temple and Elizabeth shouted, and Hammond remained in a shocked silence. After the Brute was finished ripping the leg off, it then repeatedly slammed its fists down on game-Hammond's body before picking him up and tossing him through the glass. The sound of a flat line could be heard as Nicole uncovered her eyes.

"_Lockdown initiated._"

"NOOOOOOO!" everyone, including Hammond, screamed as the Brute began to charge towards game-Isaac. Suddenly, Hammond leaped up from next to a startled Kendra, sprinted over to Isaac, and snatched the controller out of his hands.

"Give me that!" he snapped, "I want to kill it!"

Isaac didn't know what to say at first, but then he quickly, paused the game, showed Hammond the different controls, and then resumed _Dead Space _once again. Game-Isaac took some damage as Hammond quickly adjusted to the controls. He sat down next to Nicole as he proceeded to battle the Enhanced Brute that had killed his game counterpart. Nobody could believe that game-Hammond had just been killed!

"I'm going to kill this bastard!" Hammond vowed, and nobody dared to argue with him. For the next few minutes, all anybody could do was watch this mini-boss battle before the Enhanced Brute finally went down, dropping a Diamond Semiconductor in its place.

"_Lockdown lifted._"

Hammond took a deep breath, handed the controller back to Isaac, and went to take his seat next to Kendra once again. "_I just lost all of Hammond's vitals!_" game-Kendra cried, "_Is he dead? Oh, God. It's just us now, Isaac._"

"Hammond," Isaac said, pausing the game for a minute, "I'm sorry." The real Hammond just shook his head.

"Why does the black character always have to die first in these things?" he grumbled, face-palming himself. The other seven CEC employees just exchanged sad glances, and Mercer cautiously handed the complaint list over to Hammond.

"Oh, this is definitely going on the complaint list," the latter decided, writing down that he didn't like the fact that he was killed off.

"_Warning: catastrophic failure of fuel containment. Evacuate the vessel immediately._"

Sighing, Isaac picked up the controller again and made his way out of the _Valor _and back to the _Ishimura, _but nobody could say anything. Everyone was still shocked over game-Hammond's death.

None of them even reacted to the Twitcher that had somehow found its way onto the _Ishimura._ Once it was down, and game-Isaac was on the tram, everyone faced Hammond again. "Hammond?" Kendra asked gently, resting her hand on his shoulder. He just shook his head.

"I can't believe my character's gone," he whispered.

"We're sorry," Kyne apologized as "Chapter Nine: Dead on Arrival: COMPLETED" flashed on the screen.

What the group didn't realize in that moment was that game-Hammond's untimely death was only the beginning.


	21. Chapter Ten: Breaking Point

We're getting close to the end now! I'd say maybe around five or six chapters left, but that's just a rough guess. It may change the more I crank out these next couple of chapters. Congratulations to Blades252 for getting the 100th review, and thank you to everyone for reviewing and reading! :)

PS- This chapter is slightly different from the other ones. Just putting it out there now.

**DISCLAIMER: **Everything belongs to Visceral Games and EA.

* * *

Hammond sighed to himself as Chapter Ten: End of Days began. "Even though my game character is dead," he started, "I'll still watch the game. I have to know what happens."

Kendra patted him sympathetically on the shoulder.

"Well, now we have 'NICOLE IS DE'," Kyne announced to the rest of the group.

"I still can't wrap my head around Hammond's death," Isaac said, "Or that message." He directed himself off the ship as game-Kendra contacted his game character.

"_Isaac, I've located the shuttle Hammond found! Shit. No good. The shuttle's brain dead. Someone removed the navigation cards. God knows why. There are three of them scattered around the deck. I'm downloading their locations. I can't access the doors from here, so you'll need a Crew Key. If you can find those parts, I think we can get that shuttle operational again!_"

"Let's do this!" Isaac cried, "So that you won't have died in vain, Hammond." Hammond saluted him.

Just like back in chapter five, the group noticed all the candles that were lying around. "That's just creepy," Nicole whispered, shivering a little bit.

"I guess this game is getting to the end now," Temple mused as game-Isaac collected different items before heading to the Store nearby.

"_Twinkle, twinkle little star," _a woman began to sing out of nowhere, "_How I wonder what you are. Up above the world so high, like a diamond in the sky…" _

"That's creepy, too," Kyne commented in a hushed voice, "This game sure knows how to make nursery rhymes scary." The others nodded in agreement. Isaac finished at the Store and then took the elevator up to the next level, where he made two quick trips to the Bench and the Save Station.

"Bread Crumbs is taking me through here," the engineer said to the others, "Let's go."

On the other side of the door, "organic shit", as Temple would call it, covered the walls and floors, and a large window was just up ahead. There were two people on the other side, and game-Isaac decided to go see what was going on. "Oh my God!" everyone groaned when he or she recognized the faces.

"_What do you cling to when all must seem so utterly hopeless around you?_" game-Mercer asked, making his first appearance since chapter five. In the chair next to him was another familiar face, and Temple sat straight up in his seat.

"Oh my God!" he gasped, "That's me in that chair! What the _hell _are you doing to me, Mercer?" Mercer didn't reply as he waited for the cutscene to finish. In the game, game-Mercer was holding game-Temple by the jaw.

"_Dr. Cross was a true believer_," game-Mercer continued, "_She had faith. And now, she awaits her transformation. Her rebirth._" Isaac rotated the camera a little bit to see a horrifying sight.

"No," Elizabeth whispered in shock as she buried her face into her boyfriend's side, "Mercer's character killed mine!"

"He _what?_" Temple roared, and the others suddenly became nervous. They had never seen Temple look so furious until then.

"_Are you ready to ascend, Mr. Temple?_"

"Fuck no!" the real Temple snapped, shooting daggers at the real Mercer, who was still horrified at the scene unfolding on the screen.

"_Of course you are! Have no fear!_" Game-Mercer then glanced over his shoulder at game-Isaac.

"_You will play your part soon enough,_" he promised, turning back to game-Temple and raising a metal stake.

"Oh, crap!" Kendra cried, "What's happening?" Temple felt dread creep through his veins, as well as another wave of anger.

"_Witness the conviction…of a TRUE BELIEVER!_"

"Oh, _shit!_" everyone screamed as game-Mercer plunged the metal stake into game-Temple's head, and this was the real Jacob Temple's breaking point.

"_Bastard!_" he roared, leaping up from next to Elizabeth and tackling Mercer. Kyne, startled from this sudden outburst, jumped up from the couch as Temple started fighting with Mercer.

"Jacob!" Elizabeth gasped.

"You killed our game characters!" Temple snapped as he punched Mercer across the face, "You…you _Marker Head_! I always knew there was something off about you!"

"Jacob! Challus!" Kyne gasped, trying to pry Mercer away from the engineer, but to no avail.

"Marker Head!" Temple repeated from before.

"_Infidel!_" Mercer hissed in an equally angry voice. He had been able to keep his cool around Jacob Temple for the most part, but not anymore. As Temple repeatedly tried to land punches in on his face, Mercer knocked him to the ground, resulting in a brawl on the floor. Kendra and Hammond quickly leaped out of the way to avoid getting hit.

"All right, break it up!" Isaac shouted, pausing the game and getting up to pry Temple out of Mercer's grip. Kyne dragged Mercer to the other corner of the room, but that didn't stop Mercer and Temple from glaring at each other.

"Calm down," Kyne said in a soothing voice, "We don't want anybody calling the police."

"Just keep that _Rock Worshipper _away from me and my girlfriend," Temple snarled as he shook in Isaac's hands.

"Take a deep breath, and calm down," Kyne quipped in a surprisingly calm voice. Although he was slightly offended by Temple's choice of words in regards to Unitology, he still wanted his two friends to put their differences aside.

"Breathe, Jacob," Elizabeth piped up, "Breathe."

"Come on, Mercer," Kyne said, "You too."

"This night hasn't been going too well," Nicole pointed out, "Maybe we should stop."

Isaac nodded at her. "You're right," he agreed, "We need to stop. And not just for one day. Maybe a few days."

"Good idea," Kendra sighed as she wiped her forehead. She and Hammond had remained petrified on the couch next to Elizabeth, but they were finally starting to come around. Isaac resumed the game just as game-Temple's body fell to the ground.

"_They are ready!" _game-Mercer announced, "_Take them! Embrace them!_" With that, he walked away, and Isaac waited for the door on the side to unlock before returning to the Save Station and saving the game.

* * *

_**Three days later…**_

Nobody knew what to say to each other over the last three days. There was still tension in the group after Temple and Mercer's fight, and nobody knew how to relieve it.

"Has anyone spoken to either Temple or Mercer?" Kendra asked as she passed by Isaac, Kyne, Nicole, and Hammond on the way to the computer room.

"Challus won't talk to me," Kyne sighed, "I've tried, but nothing."

"I'll talk to Temple," Isaac told the others, "We're supposed to be working on repairing one of the shuttles anyway, so I'll see him then."

"Good luck," Nicole whispered, and Isaac kissed her before leaving to go to the hangar where the shuttle was located. Sure enough, Temple was already there as he sat down in front of one of the control panels leading to the engine.

"Already working on this?" Isaac asked as he took his place by the other panel.

"I'm just trying to get the job done," Temple replied. He then sighed and faced Isaac.

"Look, Clarke," he began as he worked, "I'm sorry I made such a scene at your apartment a few nights ago. I was just so mad when Mercer's character killed me and Lizzie! I already don't get along with Mercer as it is, and that was just my breaking point." Isaac took a deep breath.

"You really don't like Mercer, do you?" he asked.

"Are you kidding?" Temple retorted, "He's always trying to shove Unitology down my throat and he calls me an infidel when I try and tell him otherwise! That's why he doesn't like me! With all that aside, we didn't mean to fight." He sighed.

"I talked with Lizzie last night," he continued, "We're not going to come back to watch anymore of the game. We don't want it tearing the group apart."

"What?" Isaac replied, "Are you sure?"

"We're sure. I can't lose my temper like that again. Mercer wasn't even worth getting angry over."

"If that's what you want to do, I won't stop you," Isaac said, "We'll miss you guys, though." Temple just shook his head.

* * *

_**Later on that day…**_

There was an awkward silence at first as Kyne, Hammond, Nicole, Kendra, and Isaac set up the Xbox 360 once again. "Where's Mercer?" Hammond asked quietly.

"He's coming," Kyne reported, "He said he's sorry for fighting, Mr. Clarke."

The others just shrugged as the doorbell rang, and when Isaac went to answer it, it was indeed Mercer. "Sorry about the fight a few nights ago," he apologized.

"It's done now," Isaac said, letting the Unitologist in, "You and Temple need to stop being at each other's throats."

"I've written everything on the complaint list," Mercer replied as he held out the paper for Isaac to see.

"Temple and Elizabeth aren't coming back," Isaac announced to the others, "Temple told me himself earlier today." Everyone glanced down at his or her laps.

"I'm going to miss them," Hammond whispered.

"I think we all are," Nicole said in response. Sighing, Isaac picked up the controller again and loaded the game they had been playing a few nights ago. Once the Crew Deck reappeared, game-Isaac went through the door up ahead and into the Mess Hall, since the cutscene with game-Mercer and game-Temple was over. He took the cargo lift in the corner down to the lower level, where a Divider waited for him before attacking.

"Look out!" Nicole cried, and the longer Isaac fought the Divider in front of him, the less awkward the group felt. The tall Necromorph was soon down, followed by its Components, which led game-Isaac to retrieve the Crew Key.

"It looked like Mercer disappeared in this room," Kyne whispered, "Where did he go?"

"Magic," Mercer replied, and despite the awkwardness in the room, the others had to laugh.

As game-Isaac took the elevator back upstairs, a video log suddenly popped up in front of him, revealing game-Kyne. "_Mr. Clarke!"_ he began, "_I really…must speak with you! I'm very close to your position and…and I know you'll want to hear what I have to say! I can explain all this!_ _I know what happened! When you have the Nav Cards, I'll let you into the Security Station. We must talk! Hurry!_"

"I'm going as fast as I can," Isaac mumbled as he returned to the hallway outside.

"AHHH!" a Guardian shrieked as it began to spit out pods. At the same time, and Enhanced Slasher sprinted towards game-Isaac.

"Careful, Mr. Clarke," Kyne warned as Isaac took out both Necromorphs.

Once they were gone, Isaac made his way over to the elevator, where he used the Crew Key to unlock it. Nobody said a word as he descended down to the next level, saved at the Save Station there, and then entered Sleep Block A.

"Looks like we'll have to find a way to unblock the doors," Nicole deduced, "In here, maybe?"

"I think you're right," Isaac agreed, but just as he moved forward to pick up some stray credits, he and the others jumped at a growling noise.

"AHH!" Kendra cried as a third Drag Tentacle appeared out of nowhere and grabbed game-Isaac just like the other two times.

"_Another one?_" Isaac spat, "How many more times do I have to kill these tentacles?"

"Hopefully, this is the last time," Hammond replied as Isaac raised his Plasma Cutter in order to shoot the yellow pod. He still found it difficult to aim and shoot, and at one point, a stray chair got in his way just before the Drag Tentacle continued to pull game-Isaac towards the hole in front of him.

"I think the chair was trying to save you," Nicole teased, which gave everyone a laugh. However, the merriment was cut short when game-Isaac finally got dragged into the hole.

"Oh my God," Kyne petitioned to himself as Isaac's game character resurfaced in an attempt to escape.

"Come on, come on!" Isaac shouted at the screen, "Get out of there!"

However, it was too late. "No!" everyone shouted as a tentacle wrapped around game-Isaac's neck and dragged him back into the hole.


	22. Chapter Ten: Other Ends

Two more game chapters to go! Thanks again for all the reviews and supports! As of now, I'm currently planning out "Playing the Game" for _Dead Space 2_, so once this story is finished, expect to see that one soon! Thanks again! :)

PS- Does anybody else like the new drop down menu in the account section? I don't. I'm still not used to it.

**DISCLAIMER: **Everything belongs to Visceral Games and EA.

* * *

"This better be the last of the Drag Tentacles," Isaac said to the others as he found himself battling the latest one once again. Aiming the Plasma Cutter, game-Isaac repeatedly shot until the tentacle finally let go of him.

"I think that might be the last one," Kyne confirmed, "Hopefully."

Game-Isaac picked up the stray items that were around before entering a side room. He used Kinesis in order to unlock the doors to Sleep Block B.

"All right!" Kendra cheered, "Let's get to work!"

"You mean only me," Isaac joked. The usual, joking atmosphere had finally returned once all the awkward situations were cleared up.

"_Entering vacuum,_" the usual female voice announced.

"Whoa!" everyone gasped once Isaac's game character entered Sleep Block B.

"So many Necromorphs around this place," Nicole whispered as Isaac proceeded to plow through all them. By now, the combat part of the game had gotten surprisingly easy. As long as Isaac continued to upgrade his weapons and RIG, he would be fine.

"_Life support system and climate system malfunction. Hazardous condition. Please contact repair specialist._"

"We can see that," Hammond commented in a deadpan voice. The others just chuckled.

The Necromorphs never seemed to stop; game-Isaac dismembered them all as he explored the different rooms. Some of them didn't have anything while others had collectible items.

"_Life support system and climate system malfunction. Hazardous condition. Please contact repair specialist." _

Nobody said a word as Isaac continued to play the game. Kendra began biting her fingernails in anticipation.

"_Life support system and climate system malfunction," _the voice repeated for the third time five minutes later while game-Isaac refilled his oxygen, "_Hazardous condition. Please contact repair specialist._"

"All right, we get it!" Isaac growled, "Thank God the first Nav Card is here!"

Sure enough, game-Isaac picked up the first Nav card, and "Sub-objective Complete" flashed in front of him just as a Twitcher broke through a vent close to him.

"I hate those things," Nicole commented, "How'd they get to the _Ishimura_?"

"Good question," Isaac replied once he was finished killing it. He picked up the Medium Med Pack the Twitcher dropped before exiting Sleep Block B.

"_Exiting vacuum._"

"Whew," everyone sighed.

"Good thing that's over."

"Let's go find the next one!" Kendra cried excitedly.

* * *

_**Plowing through some Exploders, Components, Enhanced Slashers, and a trip to the Store later…**_

"Looks like the next Nav Card is this way," Isaac announced, entering the next hallway that led to Sleep Block C.

"Oh my God!" Kendra suddenly cried out loud, startling Hammond.

"What?" Kyne asked worriedly, "What is it?"

"They have Zero-G Basketball on the _Ishimura_!" the computer specialist squealed happily like a kid at Christmas.

"No way!" the others gasped.

"One of the Nav Cards is in the Zero-G Basketball court," Isaac told her, collecting a few items before entering the room.

"_Entering zero-gravity._"

"Can I try it once you get that card?" Kendra asked.

"Sure," Isaac decided after taking care of a few Enhanced Leapers. He paused the game to show Kendra the different controls, and she eagerly took the controller from the engineer just as she started the game.

"_Starting game. Level One._"

"Go, Kendra!" Nicole cheered just as the first basketball flew out of one of the hoops. Kendra zero-g jumped around the room as she grabbed the basketballs with Kinesis and tossed them into the hoops.

"Damn," Hammond whispered under his breath, "You're good."

"Thanks," Kendra thanked him, "I should have invited my brother over. This is just like when we play on the weekends."

Once Level One was finished, Kendra decided to play the next five levels, which were much more difficult, but she managed to clear them all before getting the "Z-Baller Trophy."

"All right!" her friends cheered as Nicole high-fived Kendra.

"Looks like we opened all the lockers just outside the basketball court," Kendra announced as she handed the controller back to Isaac.

"That wasn't too bad," Isaac decided as he opened the door again to leave.

"Watch out!" Kyne cried as an Enhanced Slasher popped out from a vent above him. Game-Isaac quickly dismembered him before moving on.

"Time to go to Sleep Block C," Isaac said, "Looks like the last Nav Card is there, according to Bread Crumbs."

"Good old broken Bread Crumbs," Nicole teased.

"Not broken anymore," Hammond piped up.

For the next minute or so, game-Isaac took the elevator up to Sleep Block C, where a Save Station awaited him just in front of the door.

"Hey," Mercer suddenly whispered, "Do you guys hear that?" They all fell silent as they suddenly heard a muffled voice.

"That sounds like you, Mercer," Kyne said, facing the other Unitologist. Mercer face-palmed himself just as Isaac finished saving and entered the sleep block.

Sure enough, game-Mercer was on a large, rotating screen, and it looked like he was preaching about something. "Apparently, I'm a preacher now," Mercer mused as Isaac killed a few Pods like the ones from the Guardians. The systems engineer refused to comment as he remembered what Temple had told him earlier.

Once he was finished with that, he decided to stop and listen as game-Mercer's message repeated itself.

"_How can you be turning away from the Church at this vital hour?" _he demanded, "_Do not abandon your faith! What's happening on the colony is not a tragedy! It is God's work. The truth is even more fantastic! On the planet below us, we have found a Marker! Can't you see? God's plan is unfolding, and we are its inheritors. We will ascend as we always knew we would. Unitology is truth! And your death is the first phase of this transformation. _

_"Do not be deterred by the physical methods of transformation. Soon, you will be beyond any physical concerns. You must have faith in the process. Where are you going, you fools? This is what we have been searching for all these years! This is what we have been waiting for! Don't listen to them! Come back! COME BACK!_" The video screen went to static before the recording began to play again.

All six CEC employees just glanced at each other. "Complaint list!" Hammond cried just as Mercer wrote down that he didn't appreciate being portrayed as a zealous preacher on top of everything else.

"I never knew you could be so inspirational," Kendra teased, smirking.

"Very funny," Mercer replied.

"I don't think that needs to go on the complaint list," Isaac muttered under his breath.

"What was that?" the scientist asked.

"Nothing!" Isaac insisted, but he glanced over at Nicole, who just nodded at him.

Once game-Isaac finished listening to game-Mercer, as well as collecting stray items in some of the side rooms, he moved on to the rest of the sleeping quarters, moving aside all the blocks with Kinesis symbols on them.

Not five minutes later did a strange sound suddenly greet them. "Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!" someone cackled.

"What the hell?" Kyne whispered to himself. Isaac rotated the camera until he spotted a woman sitting on the floor as she held a pistol up to her head.

"Did I miss a joke or something?" Isaac commented, "What's so funny?"

"Ah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!" the woman continued to laugh before raising the pistol even higher and pulling the trigger.

"AHH!" everyone screamed.

"Don't even look over here," Mercer warned the others.

"Well, your game character is telling the others to kill themselves," Hammond teased. Mercer just rolled his eyes.

"Last Nav card!" Isaac announced as he picked it up, completing the objective.

Just as he was turning to leave, game-Mercer suddenly contacted him through his Audio RIG. "_This time, there will be no escape for you, my friend,_" he hissed, "_You have been most resourceful up until now, but my creation is free! Reborn in the fierce heat of life itself! Now it's time to play your part!_"

"Wait…what?" Isaac gasped, but he was interrupted when something suddenly popped through a vent down to his level.

"AHH!" the others yelled.

"My game character's gone off the deep end," Mercer groaned as he buried his face into his hands.

"_God fucking damn it!_" the engineer roared, "Why won't you _die_?"

"Not the Hunter again!" Kendra groaned, burying her face into Hammond's side.

Sure enough, the Hunter was back, and with its familiar roar, it began swiping at game-Isaac, who used Stasis in order to buy himself some time. Isaac felt his palms sweat again as he began moving the blocks in order to keep the Hunter away from his game character. "Damn you!" he cursed.

_"Isaac,_" game-Kendra announced, "_That son of a bitch just overrode the door lock! I'll try to run a bypass! Hold on!_"

"I hope I don't take too long with that," Kendra said in a trembling voice.

The roars of the Hunter faded, but that wasn't it for the danger. More Enhanced Necromorphs appeared out of nowhere to swoop in for the kill. Isaac switched to the Line Gun to take care of most of them.

"Careful!" Nicole shouted as she noticed game-Isaac's RIG started to flash red.

"I've got it!" he assured her as he healed himself and continued killing all the other Necromorphs.

_Roar! _"Oh, _no_," he hissed, "I guess the Hunter got around my blockades."

"There it is!" Kyne shouted, pointing, "Watch out, Mr. Clarke!"

Isaac just nodded as he constantly used Stasis to slow the Hunter down and dismember it. He checked his Inventory at one point to make sure he still had enough Stasis Packs.

"_Okay, I bypassed the lock!_" game-Kendra cried, "_Get out of there!_"

Isaac picked up the controller again, slowed down the Hunter one more time, and then returned to the hallway with the Save Station.

"_Excellent work, Mr. Clarke_!" game-Kyne complimented, "_Excellent work. Now... come and meet me in the Executive area. The door is unlocked. Be quick_."

"I'm finally going to make a personal appearance!" Kyne said, beaming.

Isaac began to save the game when game-Kendra interrupted him. "_Isaac, be careful with Dr. Kyne,_" she warned,_ "A lot of what I've discovered so far has come from his records... the man has clearly gone insane. He might be unstable, maybe even violent_."

"I am not!" Kyne insisted.

"We'll see for sure," the real Kendra mused.

Just as Isaac was about the save, the Hunter roared even louder this time. "You know what?" he decided, "Fuck it! I'll save somewhere else!"

And with that, he climbed back into the elevator and went back the way he came.

* * *

_**An elevator ride and a battle with Infectors later…**_

Once the game was finished saving, Isaac took a deep breath and directed himself into the Security Station, where game-Kyne had his back turned to him.

"There you are!" Hammond cried.

"Finally!" Kyne sighed.

"_Amelia,"_ game-Kyne was whispering, "_I knew you'd know what to do. I knew. I love you so…_" He then turned around and faced game-Isaac.

"_You made it!_" he exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air, "_Thank God, you made it!_" He sighed and took a deep breath, and none of the CEC employees talked so that they could hear the cutscene.

"_I've been following your progress. I know you want to repair the Executive Shuttle and leave this place, but…escape is impossible at this point! The…the shuttle's Shockpoint drive is destroyed._" Game-Kyne started to look more and more frantic.

"_No, no, no, no, no, no, no!_" he insisted rapidly while he began to pace around back and forth, "_Don't lose hope!_ _Don't…lose hope._ _At first, I lost hope. I tried to scuttle the ship, sabotage the systems…but Amelia…she changed things. The church! They think the Marker is divine, but they don't know what's happened here! What's been released! Look, look, look…look at this!_"

"Uhh…you okay there?" Isaac asked cautiously.

"I seem to be unstable," Kyne commented as his game counterpart pressed a button on his glove. Following that, a video log appeared of a large monster with a loud roar.

"What the hell is that?" Nicole gasped.

"_That is what we found in the core of the planet_," game-Kyne explained once the video was over, "_Mercer calls it the Hive Mind._"

"Hey, Mercer," Hammond joked, "Is there something you're not telling us?"

"Of course not," Mercer insisted as they all quieted down again.

"_It's the source…controlling all the Necromorphs telepathically. We were so stupid! But Amelia, she knew! She knew it could be stopped…by returning the Marker to the planet! The Marker was containing it within the planet. Return the Marker, and seal the Hive Mind!_" Game-Kyne turned away from game-Isaac and began to pace back and forth.

"_Please_," he choked, "_I'm sorry, Amelia. I bear much of the responsibility for this tragedy. Now, I must take responsibility for ending it, and atone for my sins._" He then faced Isaac's character.

"_But you can help me_," he said, "_If you can repair the shuttle, and bring the Marker back on board, we can end this. Forever._" He pressed another button, which unlocked the elevator next to game-Isaac.

"You sure you don't want to put that on the complaint list yet?" Kendra asked, "The game's making you out to be a bit of a psycho."

"I think I'll wait," Kyne decided, "I don't want to jump to conclusions yet."

"You know what would be funny?" Isaac commented as he entered the Executive Sleep Block a few minutes later, "If we ended up having to fight the Hive Mind."

"HA!" the others laughed, "Maybe."

After killing all the Pregnants that roamed around the Executive Sleep Block, game-Isaac picked up an Audio Log from Captain Benjamin Matthius. "_Captain's log, personal. I want to set the record straight. By the time this log is heard, my actions will have been vindicated. I'm a Unitologist. By now, it's probably no secret that we shouldn't be in this star system. Just another illegal mining job for the company... That is until the colony found the Marker. That was when the Church took an interest, and chose me to lead this pilgrimage. They also ensured many of the mission crew were devout. My primary instruction was to get the Marker up from the colony and on board the ship._

"_Dr. Kyne, with the CSO, is an expert on the Original Marker and was tasked with deciphering this new one. He says he's making good progress. My decision to quarantine the colony is sound. They've got some kind of epidemic down there, and I can't allow it to infect the ship! Not with such a precious cargo! Not when we are so close! Planet Crack takes place tomorrow. We'll continue to decipher the Marker, and when we return home, we'll pass all our findings, and the Marker, to the Church. The government isn't going to cover this one up. Altman be praised._" The audio log ended.

"Damn," the others mumbled.

"I know," Kyne said in agreement, "This is getting crazier every minute."

* * *

_**A few minutes later…**_

The next area proved to be not so difficult.

After installing the Nav Cards, Isaac directed himself to a control room in the corner, where he picked up a few loose items before hitting one of the panels in the corner. In front of him, flames suddenly shot out of the back of the shuttle. "_Test firing shuttle engine._"

"Well," Kendra mused, "Looks like it works to me. You were right, Hammond."

Hammond just nodded sadly as he remember that it was his character that had found this very shuttle in the first place.

_Roar! _"Oh, no!" Isaac moaned as the Hunter made another appearance, as well as a few Twitchers.

"Is there _any _way we can kill the Hunter?" Isaac asked.

"Try burning it with the shuttle engine," Hammond suggested.

"That's not a bad idea," Isaac agreed, "Let's do it!"

"Hurry!" Nicole cried, and Isaac nodded as he exited the room, used Stasis on the Hunter, and took care of the Twitchers first. One of them, however, suddenly began running around in circles.

"What the hell?" Isaac muttered, "It's just running around in circles!"

"Glitch!" Hammond cried, laughing in spite of himself. Pretty soon, everyone else was joining in the laughter before Isaac finally decided to fix the glitch. All that was left after that was the Hunter.

Game-Isaac lured the regenerating Necromorph into the path of the shuttle engines before using Stasis and running back into the control room. He pressed the button again and watched as the same flames shot out of the back of the shuttle.

"_Test firing shuttle engine._"

"_GRRRRRRRR!_" the Hunter roared as it fell prey to the flames before dropping a Power Node in its place.

"Hooray!" everyone in the room cheered.

"_Finally_!" Isaac sighed, "That Necromorph is dead!"

"No more Hunters!" Kendra also cheered as game-Kyne came into view.

"_It works?_" he asked, "_Yes, this will work! There's still time to make things right! The shuttle needs to be released before launch…The Control Panel, there! I need you to guide the undocking procedures while I start the shuttle's engines. This will make us whole again. Hurry! I'll take the shuttle up to the Flight Deck where the Marker is being held!_"

"Wait a minute," Isaac said, "Make us whole again? Isn't that what you keep saying to me, Nicole?"

"Yeah," Nicole replied, "That's weird."

Once the shuttle was en route, game-Kyne contacted game-Isaac again. "_I'm en route to the Flight Deck. Meet me there, and we can load the Marker on board. Yes, Amelia. Soon, we'll take it home._"

Game-Kendra was next. "_I don't know if Kyne is crazy or not,_ _but we need that shuttle. Let's keep him on our side…for now._"

"For now?" Hammond echoed, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"You got me," Kendra whispered, "I don't like the sound of that."

Once game-Isaac was back in the Executive Sleep Block, he was just making his way over to the elevator when a video log popped up in front of him.

_"Your time has come," _game-Mercer preached once again_, "No reason to be frightened. No reason to fight. Many have gone before us, and now it's time for us to take the voyage together, to transcend death, and let the future take its course. Join me, as I gaze upon the face of God!" _

"Oh, God," Kyne petitioned, "What's happening?"

The camera zoomed out until an Infector came into view. Game-Mercer knelt down on the ground and spread his arms out as the Infector stabbed him in the head with its proboscis. "Oh, shit!" Kendra and Hammond cursed as Kyne widened his eyes in horror.

"_What…the…hell_?" Mercer spat just as the video log ended.

"You seriously _want _to become one of those things?" Isaac gasped as he continued to retrace his steps back to the tram station.

"I'm not _that _much of a fanatic," Mercer insisted, "This is going on the complaint list!" He proceeded to write down that like Hammond, he didn't appreciate being killed off, either.

Once game-Isaac returned to the main hallway, he arrived in time to see the Infector trying to turn Mercer's body into a Necromorph. He used Stasis before taking out his Pulse Rifle and shooting the proboscis on the Infector, therefore stopping the infection.

"I'm sorry, Challus," Kyne apologized. The others just bowed their heads for a minute, and Mercer looked horrified.

"I know how Hammond feels now," he groaned.

"Now it seems like we're just dropping like flies," Kendra mused, shaking her head.

"I shudder to think what the next chapter will be like," Kyne quipped as Isaac finally returned to the tram station. As he headed to the Flight Deck, "Chapter Ten: End of Days: COMPLETED" appeared on the screen.

"Next chapter, here we come!" Isaac announced.


	23. Chapter Eleven: On First Impressions

One more game chapter to go! We're very close to the end now! Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter! This story has been fun to write and I'm sad that it's getting close to the end. Thanks again, though! :)

**DISCLAIMER: **Everything belongs to Visceral Games and EA.

* * *

Flexing his fingers and taking a deep breath, Isaac watched as "Chapter Eleven: Alternate Solutions" began, and Kyne instantly wrote the new chapter title on his paper. What he read surprised him:

_New Arrivals_

_ Intensive Care_

_ Course Correction_

_ Obliteration Imminent_

_ Lethal Devotion_

_ Environmental Hazard _

_ Into the Void_

_ Search and Rescue_

_ Dead on Arrival_

_ End of Days_

_ Alternate Solutions _

"Oh my," he whispered low enough so that the others wouldn't hear. He could see what this secret message was about to spell out, and he opted not to comment until someone else brought it up.

"_Mr. Clarke_," game-Kyne began once game-Isaac was officially back on the Flight Deck, "_I'm approaching the shuttle hangar. You must... You must find your way to the Cargo Bay! The Marker... it's being stored in there. There's a cargo loading lift there you can use to deliver the Marker up to the hangar. Please... you must help me with this! It's the only way..._"

"Back to square one, huh?" Isaac joked as he retraced his steps and killed an Exploder on the other side of the door.

"I wonder what'll happen from here," Kendra wondered as she folded her hands in anticipation.

"I guess we'll see," Kyne replied, nervously glancing down at his piece of paper.

Game-Isaac saved at the closest Save Station before entering the Cargo Room, which had been locked during the first chapter. After picking up a few items, Isaac directed himself over to a control panel in the middle of the room, and after another minute or so, suspenseful music began to play.

"Uh oh," Hammond mumbled, "What's going on?"

With a whirring noise, a red, spiraling tower suddenly appeared and moved onto the track, and from the sound of the music, the CEC employees could only guess what it was.

"_The Marker!_" everyone shouted.

"By Altman," Kyne and Mercer gasped, leaning forward in their seats.

"So that piece of rock's been behind all this," Kendra commented, "Who would've thought?" The others just shook their heads.

"_Delivering cargo shipment 782. Kinesis Module required for further cargo transport."_

"Go, Isaac!" Nicole cheered, "You can do this!"

And with that, everyone watched as Isaac began moving the Marker across the track. Necromorphs popped out from every corner imaginable, and he was forced to contend with them.

"Where's your character, Kendra?" Hammond asked, "We haven't heard from you in a while."

"I'm probably hacking more computers," Kendra replied, smiling, "And not being a lazy ass." Hammond playfully punched her on the shoulder.

_Roar! _"Oh, _hell _no!" Isaac cried as more Drag Tentacles appeared, "I thought I was done with these things, too!"

"Never," Mercer joked, and Isaac just shook his head as he took on the Drag Tentacles as well.

"Damn," Hammond whispered, "This game knows how to make you tense."

"Tell me about it," Isaac agreed, "But my reflexes are getting better."

After a few more minutes of moving the Marker and stopping to take out enemies, game-Isaac was finally finished. "_Delivering cargo shipment 782 to the Hangar Bay._"

"_The cargo lift has arrived,_" game-Kyne announced, "_The Marker is in the Hangar Bay. Now you can load it into the shuttle. Hurry!_"

"Come on, Kyne," Isaac commented in a mock-angry voice, "You're putting me to work just like Kendra and Hammond."

"_Someone _has to," Kyne joked as he sipped some beer that he had gotten for himself a while ago.

Isaac turned around and retraced his steps back to the elevator that had been locked upon first returning to the Flight Deck. "_I restored power to the elevator,_" game-Kendra reported, "_Take it up to the Hangar Bay and get that Marker on the shuttle. I'm heading up to the flight deck now. Oh, God…I'm just going to run for it. Wish me luck!_"

"Good luck, Kendra!" everyone chanted in unison, making the real Kendra blushed.

"Wow, thanks, guys," she thanked her friends.

"No problem," Hammond said in response, "At least you, Isaac, and Terrence will get out of this alive."

"What about me?" Nicole asked.

Kyne glanced down at his piece of paper again, but kept his mouth shut. "Maybe we should worry about that later, Miss Brennan," he suggested, as he wasn't sure if the others noticed anything yet.

* * *

_**A quarantine and more traveling through dark, empty hallways later…**_

"Round Two of moving the Marker!" Isaac announced once he turned off gravity to the Hangar Bay. He zero-g jumped down to the floor below and proceeded to begin moving the Marker across the track again.

"Meanwhile, Kyne pulls a Kendra," Nicole said as she laughed, "He's still in the shuttle, right?"

"Yeah," Mercer answered for her, "He didn't go anywhere."

"I've done enough on this ship," Kyne piped up, "I deserve a break. Between killing Matthius, holding someone hostage, and trying to sabotage the ship."

"Damn straight," Isaac muttered, and for the next ten minutes, he slowly moved the Marker across the track, pausing every now and then to rearrange some of the parts that weren't connected. Along the way, Enhanced Leapers and Enhanced Lurkers attacked, using the zero-g environment to their advantage, but game-Isaac made use of the many canisters in the room. Once all the enemies were gone, he finished moving the Marker below the shuttle as "Objective Complete" appeared.

"Well, that wasn't so tough," the systems engineer commented as game-Kyne radioed in to him.

"_Okay, it's in position. Eh, still having trouble with these damn loading controls. Isaac, restore gravity to the room. I should be able to load the Marker then._"

"Wow, that's the first time you haven't called me Mr. Clarke," Isaac commented.

"I guess I use first names in this game after all," Kyne replied just as game-Isaac restored gravity to the room.

"_Exiting zero gravity. Loading cargo shipment 782._"

"_It's on board!_" game-Kyne cheered in a video log, "_Please, come and join me. Together, we can stop this Hive Mind! We can end this nightmare! At last!_"

"YAY!" everyone in the room also cheered.

"Time to end the game," Nicole said as Isaac checked Bread Crumbs to make sure he was going the right way. When he saw that he was, he quickly ran back to the Flight Deck in time to see game-Kyne waving to him.

"There I am!" Kyne exclaimed, "In the flesh!"

"_Hurry!_" game-Kyne insisted, "_There's no time to waste! We must do it-_"

_Bam! _Everyone in the room flinched as a gunshot rang from somewhere inside the shuttle. "Oh my God!" Kendra petitioned.

"Ahh!" Kyne gasped, "I've been shot! I've been shot! But by who?" Nobody else could say anything out of shock as game-Kyne stared down at the gunshot wound.

"_Wait,_" he choked, "_Amelia. Where are you going? Wait!_" And with that, he collapsed.

"NOOOOOO!" everyone cried, and Kyne was as white as a ghost. With a burst of wind, the shuttle suddenly lifted off and flew through the _Ishimura._

"I'm sorry, Terrence," Mercer apologized similar to when Kyne had given his condolences over game-Mercer's death.

"What's going on?" Hammond whined, "I'm so confused."

But the next video log that appeared had everyone screaming in shock. "It's me!" Kendra cried, but for some reason, game-Kendra looked a little more evil than before.

"_Sorry, Isaac_," game-Kendra apologized insincerely, "_I couldn't let him go through with it. I suppose I should thank him for finding the Marker. We even managed without help from the_ USM Valor. _Thank you for helping me find it, by the way. My department's been looking for this place for a long time. See, what Kyne didn't know was, it was the government's mess to begin with. This whole planet is one big experiment_."

"Wait…_what?"_ Isaac spluttered.

"_Kendra?_" the others yelled at the top of their lungs.

"You…you shot me!" Kyne stammered, "You killed my game character!" The real Kendra blushed. She was just as surprised as the others.

"_The Marker? This 'divine relic'? Made by man. They reverse-engineered it a couple of hundred years ago from the REAL Marker, a true alien artifact recovered on Earth. They dug it up, studied it, and made it their own. Then they brought it to Aegis 7, and activated it. And you've seen the result. The stuff of nightmares. They sealed the system, and no one would have been the wiser_. _But then C.E.C. blunders in and starts tearing the planet apart. The experiment was still alive. Kyne was right about the Hive Mind. The Marker would contain it...but that doesn't matter now, does it? I have the Marker, and this entire system can go to hell. For what it's worth, you did a great job, Isaac_. _See you around…or maybe not._"

"Ooooooo!" everyone cried as game-Kendra smirked and disappeared.

"What…the…fuck?" Kendra gasped as her mouth dropped open in shock, "The game made me an evil bitch this whole time?"

"Looks like it," Kyne retorted, "You shot me!"

"And this whole mess is the government's fault?" Hammond added, "Why is it always the government in these things?"

"To think I was trying to pit Isaac against you this whole time," Kendra muttered, shaking her head as Mercer handed over the complaint list.

"You know what?" she decided, "Forget the complaint list. I'm not writing this on here. We've got enough on there as it is and we can always include it later."

"Why are you so evil, Kendra?" Hammond groaned just as another video log appeared.

"_Isaac, it's Nicole!_" game-Nicole began_, "I need you to help me. Help us! Now! I'm…I'm in the flight control room! Please, Isaac! Please, hurry! I love you!_"

"Well, there I am," Nicole mused, "At least I didn't betray you."

"Thanks for not dying or betraying me," Isaac thanked her, and Kendra shrugged as game-Isaac went to go to the flight control room.

In all honesty, Kendra didn't know what to make of this plot twist. It bothered her that her character was being portrayed as evil, and she wondered what would happen from there.

After Isaac made himself get rid of the Guardian outside the flight control room, he went inside, but as soon as he did, all the screens started flashing red. "That's creepy," Kyne whispered, still in shock over his game character's sudden death.

_"Isaac?" _game-Nicole, who was standing by a large control panel, asked_, "Is that really you?" _

"Yeah, it's me!" the real Isaac replied as Nicole hugged his arm.

"I'm finally here in person," she said, "I guess I was here the whole time.

_"I never thought we'd be together again!" _game-Nicole continued_, "God, I'm…I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry for what I did! I never meant to hurt you!" _

_ "_How did I hurt you?" Nicole asked out loud.

"Good question," Isaac muttered.

_"You need to get it back now, Isaac! You can pilot the shuttle remotely from here. Make us whole again! Make us whole again." _

"Forgive me for saying this," Mercer piped up, "But that doesn't sound like you at all."

"Yeah," Kendra piped up in order to take her mind off her evil game character, "You do sound a little strange."

Nicole just shrugged as game-Isaac went to call the shuttle back to the _Ishimura._ Suddenly, the monitors flashed, and a very angry game-Kendra transmitted a message to Isaac's game-character. _"Isaac!_"she snapped_, "What the hell are you doing? You're making a big mistake! This is not over!"_

"Yikes," Hammond mused, "You're scary right now, Kendra. You know that?"

"I know, I hate it," the computer specialist replied as she buried her face into her hands.

_"Escape pod away_,_" _a voice announced_, "Crew shuttle USG-09. Repeat, shuttle has ejected escape pod._"

"Oh, Lord," Kendra groaned, "What am I up to now?"

_"It doesn't matter," _game-Nicole piped up from the other controls_, "She can't escape her fate. No one can." _She fixed her gaze to the hangar, and the others had to agree with Mercer; Nicole's game counterpart definitely sounded strange_. _

_ "Here it comes! I'll reprogram the shuttle so that we can fly down to the colony. We're so close, Isaac. Now go! Get on the shuttle! I'll meet you there!" _

"So I guess there's one more chapter," Isaac guessed, and everyone was so absorbed in what was happening that Kyne's concerned facial expressions didn't go unnoticed. He repeatedly glanced down at his paper with the chapter titles and hid it out of Mercer's view.

Isaac took a deep breath as he finished off the few Necromorphs in the hangar and entered the shuttle, triggering a cutscene. Game-Isaac sat down first, and then game-Nicole followed suit.

_"You're doing the right thing, Isaac," _she said_, "We're together now, the way it always should have been. I knew you would come back for me. Nothing can stop us now." _

_ "_Oh my God," Kyne petitioned, "Only one more chapter to go!"


	24. Chapter Twelve: Drama on Aegis VII

Second to last chapter! The final chapter should be up soon, and after that, _Dead Space 2: Playing the Game _will be out. Thanks again for the reviews! :)

**DISCLAIMER: **Everything belongs to Visceral Games and EA.

* * *

"All right!" Isaac cried as he saved the game, "Who's ready for the last chapter?"

Everyone raised his or her hands.

"Last chapter," Nicole sighed, "Can you believe it?"

"It seems like a long time ago that I picked up the game in the store," Isaac commented.

Kyne glanced down at his paper again as "Chapter 12: Dead Space" began, and he nearly choked on his beer at the complete secret message:

_New Arrivals_

_ Intensive Care_

_ Course Correction_

_ Obliteration Imminent_

_ Lethal Devotion _

_ Environmental Hazard_

_ Into the Void_

_ Search and Rescue_

_ Dead on Arrival_

_ End of Days_

_ Alternate Solutions_

_ Dead Space _

_ I hope nobody else noticed this, _he thought, but the air suddenly changed in the room, and nobody commented as the game continued to load. Suddenly, game-Isaac stood outside the cockpit of the shuttle, and the real Isaac picked up the controller again as he ran outside.

"Wow," Hammond whispered, "So this is Aegis 7, huh?"

"Yep," Kendra confirmed.

"And Isaac's gonna return the Marker here?"

"Yep," Kendra repeated, nodding.

"_Isaac!_" game-Nicole shouted, "_Use one of the loaders to get the Marker off the shuttle!_"

"I wonder what's going to happen when we return the Marker," Kyne quipped from the couch.

"I don't know," Isaac said, "Game over, I guess."

With that, game-Isaac used Kinesis to bring one of the loaders close to the Marker, and with a whirring noise, a few craned moved the artifact onto the loader. With that, Isaac began moving the Marker towards a large door in the corner. After that, he entered a room to his left, where a Save Station, a Bench, and a Store were located. While he got himself situated, he received a message from game-Nicole.

_"Isaac, the Marker needs to be returned to the Pedestal Chamber. Use the loader to bring it there and replace it on the pedestal. Replace what was taken, and make us whole again._"

"I wish someone would tell us what the hell 'Make us Whole Again' means," Kendra groaned.

"Let's find out."

* * *

_**Moving the Marker through different rooms, activating bridges, and surviving another quarantine later…**_

**"**_Isaac, you're almost there_," game-Nicole announced,_ "You'll have to restore power to the bridges to move the Marker through this area. Look for a control station at the end of the maintenance tube._"

"You've been to Aegis 7 before, haven't you?" Isaac joked as he proceeded to kill two Mature Guardians blocking the door to get into the maintenance tube.

"I guess," Nicole replied, "This is getting strange now."

"Where the hell am I?" Kendra asked.

"Who knows?" Hammond quipped, and once the Guardians were dead, game-Isaac briefly stopped at the Store before saving and entering the maintenance tube.

"_Entering zero gravity._"

"Still with the zero-g, huh?" Mercer asked, "On a planet?"

"Ha!" Kyne laughed, "Looks like it."

A few Enhanced Leapers ambushed game-Isaac on the way, but then engineer quickly took care of them before continuing on his way. He soon arrived in the room to restore power, and as soon as he did that, a whirring noise suddenly greeted him. "What's that?" Isaac mumbled as he turned around to return to the main sector.

When he went to investigate, he noticed that the fans that had been previously turned off were on now. "I _knew _this part was too good to be true," the engineer commented.

A few more Necromorphs began to attack game-Isaac, but once he finished dismembering them, he used Stasis to slow down the fans in order to get back to the sector.

"What's that in the corner?" Kyne suddenly asked, pointing at something slowly walking in the distance.

Isaac squinted his eyes. "That looks like a Brute," he answered, which made Hammond tense up where he was. He hadn't forgotten the Brute that had killed his game-character three chapters ago.

"It _is _a Brute!" Nicole shouted, "Kill it! Kill it!"

"An Enhanced Brute," Kyne corrected, making Hammond fume. He suddenly felt pain in his leg as he remembered game-Hammond's death.

It took a while to bring the Brute down, but once it was finally dead, Isaac saved again and continued.

* * *

_**More long hallways, bridge activations, and continuing to move the Marker later…**_

"Almost there," Isaac announced once he finally made it outside and found he was being ambushed by a wave of Necromorphs, including Twitchers.

"Crap," he groaned, "Those things are here, too?"

"Who had stasis on the colony?" Kendra wondered out loud.

The others shrugged. The systems engineer sighed as he reloaded all his weapons and healed himself. There were a lot of pickups around here, which he used to his advantage. Once he was sure all the Necromorphs were gone, he used Kinesis to return the Marker to its rightful place. It took a few more minutes, but the minute the Marker returned to its pedestal, a humming noise began, and bright light shined from the top of the artifact.

"Hooray!" all six CEC employees cheered.

"The nightmare is over!" Kyne cried, "Thank you for doing this for my game character, Mr. Clarke."

"Don't mention it," Isaac replied as he flexed his fingers again.

As the bright light continued to shine into the air, game-Nicole appeared from behind the Marker. _"Thank you, Isaac,"_ she said_, "I always believed in you. I knew you would return to me. We are whole again, Isaac! We are whole!" _And with that, the light intensified until she disappeared.

"Wait a minute…what?" Nicole asked, "Where'd I go?"

With a loud rumble, the ground began to shake as a deep, male voice announced, "_Emergency: geo-orbital gravity tethers offline. Tectonic load released. Impact imminent. Evacuate this area immediately_."

"Gotta go!" Isaac cried as he made his way into another chamber.

"_Decontamination cycle activated._"

With a _whoosh, _some air began to blow into the room, and once that was finished, the windows opened and another voice began to speak. "Oh, _no!_" everyone groaned as Kendra face-palmed herself.

"_Isaac, Isaac,_" game-Kendra chuckled, "_You didn't think I was going to just walk away, did you? I can't do that. The Marker's coming with me._"

"Damn you, Steve and Glen," Kendra cursed, "Why am I a bad guy now?" From behind her game character, the Marker moved off the pedestal and back the way game-Isaac had dragged it this whole time.

"_It's a shame,"_ game-Kendra continued, "_I was starting to like you. Even if you are insane._"

"I don't like where this is going," Mercer mumbled, and the others nodded in agreement, unable to say anything.

"_What? You don't believe me? Take a look at yourself! Better yet, take a look at that video from Nicole. And this time, watch it right to the end._"

"Oh, God," Nicole groaned, "What are you talking about, Kendra?" By now, the real Kendra was as white as a ghost. Game-Kendra pressed a button on her glove, and the video game-Nicole had left at the beginning of _Dead Space _popped up.

"_Isaac, it's me_," she began, "_I wish I could talk to you. I'm sorry. I'm sorry about everything. I wish I could just…talk to someone. It's all falling apart here. I can't believe what's happening! It's strange…such a little thing. In the end, it comes down to this one…little thing._" The camera zoomed out until it showed Nicole holding a syringe in her hand.

"Wait a minute," Isaac mumbled, "No! NO!"

"_I didn't want it to end like this,_" game-Nicole choked, sighing, "_I wanted to see you again, just once. I loved you. I've always loved you._" And then following that, she injected herself with whatever was in the syringe.

"AHH!" the others screamed, heart rates increasing as game-Nicole removed the syringe from her arm. In the game, game-Isaac bowed his head and face-palmed himself as he looked away. Game-Nicole leaned back and her eyes closed, and in that moment, everyone in Isaac's living room bowed his or her head.

"No," the engineer whispered, "No! NO!"

"I didn't want to believe it," Hammond sighed, "That's what the secret message said. NICOLE IS DEAD. I'm sorry, you two." He patted both Isaac and Nicole's shoulders as Isaac paused the game to take this in. Kyne, Mercer, and Kendra all got up and hugged the two of them. Meanwhile, Nicole was in shock.

"I…was dead this whole time?" she gasped, "But…why? I would never do something like that to myself! How was I here this whole time, then?"

Nobody knew what to say as Isaac resumed the game. The video log disappeared as game-Kendra continued to talk. "_See?_" she asked, "_You're insane! Just like Kyne. Just like the Captain!_"

"Your could have _told _me about this," Isaac commented, glancing over at Kendra, who was still in shock.

"_Nicole's been dead this whole time. Whatever you were seeing was caused by that. You were its pawn. But don't worry; it'll be in good hands now. Far away from this damn place! Goodbye, Isaac._" And with that, she took off.

"Noooooo!" everyone groaned.

"I can't believe this," Nicole sighed, "I just can't!"

"Wait," Kyne piped up, "If Miss Brennan was…you know, this whole time…how did the door back in chapter seven open?"

"I don't know," Isaac growled, "And I don't care."

"Kyne!" Hammond snapped, "This isn't the time to be asking that!"

"Sorry," Kyne apologized. When the door unlocked behind game-Isaac, he retraced his steps back to the room with the Store, Bench, and Save Station, and he quickly took care of business before moving on.

"Complaint list?" Mercer asked cautiously.

"You better believe it," Isaac assured him, and Mercer wrote this down as well.

"Is it time for the final boss battle?" Kendra asked quietly.

"I think so," Nicole also whispered. Isaac saved before returning to where the shuttle had landed. After collecting some pickups, he moved forward until he stumbled and fell to the ground. More scary music began to play just as game-Kendra ran up the escape ramp.

"Well, there I am," Kendra mumbled.

On the ground, a tentacle suddenly appeared, and both game-Isaac and game-Kendra stopped to stare at it. "_Oh my God!_" game-Kendra petitioned, screaming as the tentacle grabbed her and threw her back down to game-Isaac's level.

"Oh my God!" the real Kendra also screamed, covering her eyes as she and the others realized what was about to happen.

"Oh, shit," Hammond cursed.

"_AHH!_" game-Kendra screamed again as the tentacle crashed down on her, rolling her around the platform and slamming her into a wall.

"Ooooooo!" everyone cried at the same time.

"I don't believe this," Kendra whined, "So we're all dead except for Isaac!"

"Damn," Kyne hissed. Game-Isaac stood up again as a larger tentacle wrapped itself around this small area, and following that, a larger beast appeared from down below as it roared.

"_The Hive Mind!_" everyone cried as he or she waited for the cutscene to finish.

"I _knew _it!" Isaac declared once he was allowed to control himself again. The Hive Mind swayed for a little bit before roaring, exposing its yellow "organs". As it did that, Isaac made himself raise his maxed out Plasma Cutter as he began shooting at the weak points.

"AHH!" Kendra and Nicole screamed as a few of the tentacles slammed down on the platform, hitting game-Isaac and causing him to take damage. Isaac picked himself up again, healed, and continued to fight, using every opportunity he could to shoot the "organs". Once there were only two left, the Hive Mind roared again as it picked game-Isaac up and dangled him upside down in the air.

"Shoot it! Shoot it!" the others yelled frantically, but Isaac found he was having a hard time aiming at the remaining two organs. He tried, but he noticed he was getting closer and closer to the monster's mouth.

"_Fuck!_" the engineer hissed once he ran out of opportunities to shoot, and the Hive Mind roared as it brought game-Isaac close to its mouth.

"Oh, crap," Hammond whispered as game-Isaac began to scream. Shrieking again, the Hive Mind shook Isaac's game-character around a little bit before putting him in its mouth.

"AHHHHH!" everyone screamed again. There seemed to be a struggle inside the Hive Mind's mouth for a second before it spit game-Isaac out.

"That bastard ate my arms!" Isaac gasped as he put the controller down. There was no point in still holding it in that moment.

"This is, quite possibly, the worst death in the game, and the longest one, too," Kyne mused as the Hive Mind brought game-Isaac up to its mouth again and clamped its teeth down on his torso.

"_AHHHHHHHH!"_ game-Isaac screamed at the top of his lungs, forcing everyone in the room to wince, close his or her eyes, and scream as well.

"Holy shit!" Isaac cried, looking away as the Hive Mind took another bite and swallowed, letting game-Isaac's bottom half fall back down to the ground. Blood splattered across the screen, marking a game over as the game reloaded to the last checkpoint.

"Jesus Christ," Kendra sighed, and that was all she could say. That was all _any _of them could say. They waited with nervous anticipation as _Dead Space _put Isaac back to right before the beginning of the battle.

"Here we go," Isaac whispered.


	25. Chapter Twelve: The End?

And...this is it! The final chapter of "Playing the Game"! I'd like to take this time to thank everyone who has read, reviewed, favorited, and alerted this story. It's been fun to write and I'm glad you guys enjoyed it! :) _Dead Space 2: Playing the Game _should be out very soon, or probably a lot sooner than you think, so keep an eye out for it. Thanks again!

**DISCLAIMER: **Only my OCs are mine. Everything else belongs to Visceral Games and EA.

* * *

"I hope I don't die again," Isaac mumbled once the second Hive Mind battle got underway. He spent the next few minutes dodging tentacles and taking out some of the yellow "organs".

"Yeah," Kendra agreed, "I don't want to see myself get killed again." She shuddered as she said this.

"I still can't believe your character betrayed Isaac's like that," Hammond commented.

"Me neither," Kendra grumbled as Isaac found his game character being picked up by the Hive Mind again.

"All right," Isaac declared, "I'm not going to die this time." As the Hive Mind roared, the engineer made sure he aimed properly before shooting at the last two pods. He came very close to experiencing the long death scene again, but the Hive Mind shrieked in pain and tossed game-Isaac to the ground.

"Ooo," Hammond said, wincing, "That's gonna leave a bruise."

"I hope that's _all _there is," Isaac replied. The second stage of the battle then began, with the "organs" being located inside the body this time. At the same time, everyone noticed something else appearing on game-Isaac's level.

"Oh, no," Nicole groaned, "Are those Pregnants?"

"Looks like it," Kyne answered, nodding at her.

Many of the Pregnants began closing in on game-Isaac, making the real Isaac take a break from killing the Hive Mind in order to deal with them. The fight was so tense that nobody in the room could comment. Everyone's gaze was fixed on the screen.

The fight continued for the next ten minutes or so, with more Pregnants appearing to attack game-Isaac, but to no avail. After destroying a few more "organs", the Hive Mind screamed again as it picked up Isaac's game-character one more time. "Come on, Isaac!" Nicole cheered, "You can do it!"

"Go, Isaac!" the others cried as well as Isaac aimed and shot at the last few yellow pods inside the Hive Mind. Once those were gone, the Hive Mind dropped his game-character and began to sway back and forth. With a loud _bang_, the hulking monster crashed down onto the platform before falling off the edge.

"Whew!" Isaac sighed, "Thank God that's over!"

"True," Nicole said, "But you have to get out of there now!"

"Right!" And with that, Isaac picked up the controller again and directed himself towards the escape ramp. A cutscene then began as game-Isaac stumbled into the shuttle and started banging on the locked door. Something distorted came out of his mouth, which made everyone wonder if he had finally said something.

"Sounded like 'come on'," Isaac mused, "Well, at least I said that." After game-Isaac pounded on the door, it unlocked and opened, allowing him to sit in the pilot seat as he programmed the shuttle to return to space. Debris crashed down all around him, and once he was back in space, something that was hovering above the planet fell and crashed onto Aegis 7. Game-Isaac covered his eyes as white light filled the screen.

"Whoa!" everyone gasped.

"Damn, Isaac," Hammond mused, "You just blew up a whole planet!"

"That's crazy!" Kyne gasped while Mercer had nothing to say.

Once Aegis 7 was completely obliterated, the game changed scenes until it showed game-Isaac sitting in the shuttle as gentle music began to play in the back. He reached for his helmet as he finally removed it after all this time. "Oh!" the others gasped.

"_This _is when we were supposed to see my face," Isaac realized, "Not in the beginning. At least they got it right." They all watched as game-Isaac sighed and covered his eyes. Suddenly, a video log began to play, and everyone recognized game-Nicole.

"_Isaac, it's me_," she said, "_I wish I could talk to you. I'm so-" _Game-Isaac stopped the transmission before it could continue. He knew what it was going to say. They all did.

"What are you doing?" Mercer asked as game-Isaac powered everything down until he was sitting in the dark. He sighed again as he suddenly perked up and glanced over at the seat next to him.

A Necromorph bearing a striking resemblance to game-Nicole suddenly leaped up and screeched in his face as symbols flashed across the screen. "_Whoa, what the hell?_" everyone gasped as he or she jumped in his or her seat.

"Why am I a Necromorph?" Nicole cried as the frightening scene stopped and the credits began to roll.

"They just _had_ to get one last scare in, didn't they?" Isaac realized, "Christ, that was scary." He took a few deep breaths to calm himself down.

"I can't believe it," Kendra said, "The game's over. We beat it!"

"What did you guys think?" Isaac asked, facing his friends, "Was it worth the money?"

The others paused to consider the question. "In some ways, yes," Kyne answered truthfully, "And other ways, no. I liked the story, but not the way they portrayed us." The rest pretty much felt the same way.

"I'm still writing the complaint letter," Mercer declared.

"I'll be curious to see what EA has to say about this," Hammond said. They all fell silent as the credits continued to roll, but once they were finished, they noticed one last text log was popping up.

"What's this?" Isaac asked, "Background Request?"

"Let's see what it says," Nicole suggested, and Isaac opened it and began to read it.

_"To: Zach Hammond_

_ From: XXXXXXXXXXX _

_ Re: Background request _

_ Per your request, here's what we could find on your hastily- assembled crew. _

_ ISAAC CLARKE_

_ Isaac was born to Paul and Octavia Clarke on Earth in the eastern seaboard region of the American Republic. Paul Clarke was an award-winning ship architect employed by the Galactic Union Marine Corp. His record show extended time off-world away from his family. _

_ "When Isaac was born, Paul was given a temporary reassignment to an Earth-based GUMMC ship production facility. During the four-year tour, Paul and Octavia raised Isaac together. When the tour was over, Paul shipped off for an extended off-world tour. _

_ "Paul's influence on his son must have rubbed off. Records indicate Isaac pursued studies in mechanical and electrical engineering and achieved high honors. _

_ "According to medical and psychiatric reports, Paul Clarke's absence had a profound effect on Octavia. S he suffered from depression and personal anguish until doctors encouraged her to find fulfillment by working with charitable organizations. It is believed that this is how she ended up coming in contact with the Church of Unitology. _

_ "Her association with the Church appears to have alleviated her mental condition. The cancellation of her therapy sessions corresponds with the local parish announcements of her initiation ceremony. _

_ "At this point, records on her become somewhat scarce. There are indications that she sold off much of the family estate to finance her full membership in the church. _

_ "Isaac appears to have been selected to a prominent engineering school but we surmise that he was unable to afford the tuition, as records show that he instead attended a lesser-known school with the help of scholarships and financial assistance. _

_ "After graduating with high honors, Isaac enlisted in the Merchant Marines. He quickly gained a reputation for his resourceful engineering __solutions__ and after two years was promoted to a higher-profile position closer to the major shipping lanes. _

_ "There are several inquiries about the location of his father that have been logged by his contacts at the GUMMC. Isaac appears to have been trying to re-unite with him unsuccessfully for years. It's doubtful he ever got far in his investigation as Paul Clarke's service record has been mysteriously classified by an executive order. _

_ "Octavia continues to be a contributing member of her church and has managed to purchase a Vested-level title. _

_ "Isaac's career stagnates at this point. There are records that he cohabited with a medical officer named Nicole Brennan for a couple of years. Records indicate she moved out after receiving a promotion and is currently serving on the USG Ishimura. _

_ "__KENDRA DANIELS_

_ I couldn't find anything on her in the time I had but Darlton swears by her. She is on the mission with his recommendation. If he thinks she has the necessary skills, who am I to argue?" _

At first, none of them knew what to say, but then Isaac broke the silence. "That's creepy," he commented, "That's exactly what happened to me. Except for, you know, the _Ishimura_ part."

"I didn't know your game character requested background information on us, Hammond," Kendra commented, "I wonder why." Hammond shrugged.

"Well, against all odds," Isaac continued, "This has been one bizarre experience, but I'm glad we all went through it together."

"Amen to that," Kendra agreed, "It's been an interesting ride."

"It was worth seeing a game about ourselves," Hammond added, and Isaac nodded to himself as he felt the same way. Now all Mercer had to do was send in the complaint letter, and then everything would be fine.

* * *

_**Two days later, at Visceral Games and EA…**_

Things were always hectic around EA's main headquarters, but things were about to get lively the minute a large envelope ended up in one of the main mailboxes.

"Looks like a letter coming in for feedback on something," one of the secretaries commented, taking it and opening it, since the higher-ups were in a conference at the moment. The young woman skimmed over the letter first before going back to reread it, and she was surprised at the contents.

_To whom it may concern: _

_ My friend, Isaac Clarke, recently purchased Dead Space on the Xbox 360, and I have a few things I would like to comment on. While the game itself was well put together, and despite the fact that the game play was excellent, I have a few points to criticize. Please do not take this the wrong way, but we all came to these conclusions once we finished the game. _

_ First, I would like to discuss the way our characters were portrayed. Most of us were almost, if not completely, out of character. You did not give Mr. Clarke a voice, you made Miss Daniels the main human antagonist, and you portrayed half of us as murderers or psychotic. Miss Brennan was nothing more than a hallucination. We wanted to inform you that this is not how we are in real life, and if a lawsuit for defamation of character is the only option, then we will see to it that this happens. I will also let you know that the Concordance Extraction Corporation, as well as the Earth Government, will not be pleased once they see that they have been shown to be involved in illegal operations. Everything we do is legal. _

_ Second, we also did not appreciate being killed off one by one except for Mr. Clarke. One of my other friends, Zach Hammond, asked me to include the fact that his character was technically the first one to die in the game, excluding Miss Brennan. If there is something you can do to remedy this, that would be good. Watching ourselves die in the most gruesome ways was not satisfying. _

_ Other than that, the game was good. It was just those main points that needed to be addressed, since those were our main complaints. If it is at all possible, I would appreciate a prompt response to see how everyone there feels about this. Thank you for your time. _

_ Sincerely,_

_ Challus Mercer_

The secretary, whose name was Diana, put the letter down for a minute and took in the content. She was surprised at first that the characters from the game were responding like this, and she realized she would have to take the letter to the executive producers. Powering down her computer, she quickly ran through the quiet hallways and knocked on the door leading to the conference room. "Come in!" a voice cried from the other end.

Diana entered the room and took a deep breath, "Sorry to interrupt," she sighed, "But this letter just came in and I thought you'd want to see it." She handed it over and watched her her bosses scanned it over.

"Hmm," one of them commented, "Interesting. Very interesting. What do you think?" He handed the letter over to his co-executive producer.

"Well, we don't want a lawsuit," he replied after he finished reading Mercer's letter, "But what they don't realize is that we've got another game out already. How about we write him back, apologize, and send him a free copy of _Dead Space 2_?"

"_Dead Space 2?_" Diana asked, raising an eyebrow, "Are you sure that's a good idea? They might get even angrier."

"Then we'll have to be ready for it," the first man quipped, "Mr. Mercer did say that the game was good. I think they'll like the next one and the corrections we've made." He reached for a copy of _Dead Space 2_ and handed it to Diana.

"I just hope they won't start marching outside the office," the young secretary mumbled as she returned to her desk and began to wrap up _Dead Space 2_. However, after a few minutes, Diana couldn't help but grin to herself a little bit. If they reacted the way they did with the first _Dead Space_, then _Dead Space 2 _was definitely going to be interesting.

And with that, Diana booted up her computer again, opened up a blank document, and began to type.


End file.
